The Cursebreaker and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by SwordGold
Summary: Recounts the events after Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and some interesting ramifications all from the point-of-view of everybody's favourite Hogwarts Mystery main character.
1. Prologue

_Hello again! _

_So I know that I haven't posted anything for a while and I'm sorry - last year was ridiculously busy and, knowing my luck, this year will be as equally chaotic. To make up for my long absence, I decided to start a new Charlie/Jacob's Sibling story. This particular story is set quite a few years before my other fanfiction 'The Cursebreaker and the Dragontamer' takes place, just after the events that unfolded in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Don't worry; I'm not giving up on the other one. Just think of this as something ... extra. So yeah, enjoy!_

_Yours truly, _

_SwordGold_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from the Wizarding World. Those credits go to J.K. _

* * *

**Old Wounds**

* * *

_Dragon Sanctuary, Romania_

* * *

"Is that another owl from your girlfriend?"

Charlie rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself as he snatched the letter from his co-worker and peeled open the envelope to read what was inside before swearing.

"What's wrong?" his colleague cocked a teasing eyebrow, "Trouble in paradise?"

He didn't respond, fully focused on his mother's shaky handwriting, noticing the tear splotches marking the parchment and gulped as dread began to pool in his stomach ...

* * *

_Meanwhile at Gringotts in Cairo …_

* * *

"_Merlin_," I shook my head in disbelief, "but is she alright?"

Bill shrugged, "Mum says so but … I don't know," he ran a frustrated hand through his red locks, "All of this 'Chamber of Secrets' stuff makes me think about …"

"The Cursed Vaults," I finished his sentence for him as I watched him sink into the nearest couch.

Bill's expression wilted, "I thought I was over it," he admitted quietly, "I mean, it all happened so many years ago … but the things that she did … the things that she _tried_ to do …" he shook his head, unable to continue as I sat beside him.

"Hey," I said, "You know that none of it was your fault."

I gripped his shoulder, "Nothing that Rakepick did was your fault."

Bill flinched ever so slightly at the sound of her name.

_If anything it was mine_ went the unsaid, but I couldn't dwell on that now.

Bill sighed before he bowed his head in resignation.

"You're right," he murmured, "I know you're right, but the thought that I wasn't there to protect my family …" he bit his lip, "It's just too much."  
Bill buried his face into my shoulder and I held him close.

Some wounds never did fully heal.

* * *

_I know, this prologue was short, but I promise it was just a snippet of what's to come. _

_Let me know what you think!_

_\- S.G. _


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Wizarding World, I have collected what I can find on the amazing history that J.K Rowling has so wonderfully provided and simply elaborated on the possibilities. _

* * *

**Weasleys, Love and Magic Carpets**

* * *

_Gringotts, Cairo_

* * *

"You know if you keep pacing around like that you're going to wear a hole through the floor," Bill Weasley drawled as he glanced up from the mound of paperwork on his desk, "Besides, don't you have reports to write?"

"Finished them an hour ago," I replied with a wave of my hand, still pacing up and down the space between the desks of our shared office.

"Well, quit pacing at least," Bill implored as he returned his attention to the illegible scribbling that was his handwriting, "Or at least_ pretend _that you're not being an anxious train wreck for five seconds?"

"I'm not being an anxious train wreck," I retorted indignantly, stopping only to glare at the Weasley with my hands on my hips.

He snorted, "Oh please, you're starting to make _me_ anxious."

I rolled my eyes before I began to resume my pacing if only to annoy him now.

"It's just that I haven't seen him in so long …"  
"This 'him' wouldn't happen to be referring to my little brother would it?" teased Bill with an all-knowing smirk.

_Who else? _ I wanted to counter-back but I didn't, averting my gaze in hopes that he couldn't see the blush that was starting to rise up my cheeks.

"Well it's not like you haven't been exchanging letters, …" Bill continued, "In fact, one could almost say …"

"You do realise that just because your love-life is a mess at the moment doesn't mean that you get to stick your nose into mine," I cut him off before he had the chance to finish that sentence.

"Ah, but how else would I be able to fulfil my role as the overbearing older brother in our relationship?" asked Bill.

I rolled my eyes, "You're ridiculous, Weasley."

* * *

_Later that day …_

* * *

"Finally! It's about bloody time," exclaimed Bill, arms crossed impatiently as Charlie landed neatly on the marble floor of Gringotts' foyer with the Portkey and his worn-out trunk in tow.

"Well, it's nice to see you too," the Dragonologist drawled mildly, "And I was late by five minutes at most …"  
"Try _two hours_, mate," Bill corrected him in a matter-of-factly tone as he tapped his wristwatch, "Honestly, you do realise that when somebody says that they'll be arriving at lunchtime they normally mean noon, not two?"

Charlie rolled his eyes, "Well, it's not my fault that Sparky accidentally swallowed a hedgehog …"

"Wait, you named your dragon _Sparky_?" Bill let out a chortle, "Wow, that's _real _original, Charlie."

"I … oh, shut up," snapped Charlie, shoving him away, "Where's Bethany?" he asked instead, quickly changing the subject.

Bill raised a teasing eyebrow, "What, no hello?"

If Charlie hadn't already been blushing, he was definitely doing so now.

"No, I … I just … thought that she'd be joining us today, that's all," he managed to stammer while hurriedly averting his gaze.

Bill smirked, "Well, she _would_ have been joining us for lunch if you'd arrived at lunchtime."

"Oh," Charlie blinked, unable to hide his disappointment as he ran a sheepish hand through his orange hair.

"Aw, don't worry bro," Bill replied, slinging his arm over his shoulder as he waggled his eyebrows, "I'm sure you'll get to catch up with your _girlfriend_ soon enough …"

"She's _not_ my girlfriend!" Charlie shoved his brother's face away for what felt like the millionth time that afternoon; his freckled cheeks burning pink like Cairo's setting sun.

Bill laughed again, "Whatever you say, man. Let me show you around."

* * *

_Meanwhile …_

* * *

I shouldered open the door, managing to switch on the lights with a clumsy flick of my wand although I was currently holding it between my teeth before I made my way to my desk.

I rummaged through my files; the giant urn that I was currently carrying making this considerably more difficult so I placed it unceremoniously beside the filing cabinet before going back to the task at hand.

"Come on, where _is _it?" I wondered out loud, ignoring the searing pain that was shooting up my wand hand as I opened and closed various drawers before ultimately losing my patience and conjuring the first-aid kit that whizzed out of Bill's nearby cupboard.  
I was going to have to talk to Bill about borrowing my things, I thought to myself as I tore it open and scoured through the different vials of potions.

"There we are," I grunted, selecting a small bottle of green ointment – Essence of Dittany. I spat out the cork, rolling up my blood-soaked sleeve before I applied it directly to the wound.

"Bloody hell," I swore beneath my breath, tilting my head skyward as its marred surface began to smoke before it slowly knitted back together.

"_Episkey_," I touched the tip of my wand against the skin until the wound had turned to little more than an ugly bruise, then cast another counter-curse, making sure that I had drained out all of the poison before I conjured an empty potion flask, which I collected the remaining black liquid and corked it with a sigh of relief.

I frowned, holding the flask up to eye-level as I examined it carefully. It was unlike any sort of curse or poison that I had ever seen. The black liquid bubbled, radiating nothing but pure death and I could not help but shiver slightly.

"Perhaps I better add more charms, just to be safe," I murmured, casting a few more binding enchantments before I placed it along with the other pieces of cursed items in my small Mountain Ash chest to study later.

It was only after I had locked the chest and bandaged my arm with a hasty _Ferula_ charm that I finally kicked off my sand-filled boots before sinking into my chair.

I rubbed at my temples as I silently recounted what had happened.

_And this is what happens when your head's up in the clouds_, I mentally chastised myself.

I sighed, levitating the first-aid kit to pack itself away before returning it to its rightful place. It had been careless of me really, to be so distracted when I was supposed to be breaking curses …

"Hey stranger," a familiar voice broke me out of my reverie, and all my nerves seemed to wash over me as I looked up. Standing in the doorway was none other than the one who had been the subject of my distraction: Charlie Weasley.

I felt butterflies flutter in my stomach at the sight of him: tanned freckled face and orange curls. It was a feeling that I had developed ever since our fourth year at Hogwarts – that giddy, heart-racing sensation which I experienced every time we spent time together.

"Charlie, hey!" I could feel myself beaming from ear-to-ear as I pushed my papers to the side and stood up before leaping into his outstretched arms.

He grinned, abandoning his trunk as he lifted me off my feet in a warm bear hug. My heart swelled even more as I clutched onto his shoulder for support, marvelling at just how dense he felt because I certainly didn't remember his arms being quite so thick as I breathed in his familiar scent of honeysuckle and freshly mowed grass.

"I missed you," his voice tickled my ear with a melodious chuckle, sending tingles down my spine. A small part of me had hoped that I'd gotten over my silly childhood crush on the Weasley by now, but for whatever reason, it seemed that the feelings had stuck and were here to stay.

If only they were mutual …

"Um, you guys realise that I'm still here, right?" Bill chimed.

Merlin, how embarrassing – I hadn't even noticed that Bill was there in the first place.

I blushed, reluctantly untangling myself from the Weasley's embrace as he set me back down.

"Wait a minute, is that _blood_?" Charlie noticed the stain on my rolled-up sleeve as well as the new bandage that I had wrapped my arm in and frowned.

Darn it, I knew there was something that I'd forgotten to do.

"What did you do?" asked Bill, closing the door behind him as Charlie gently took my arm in his to examine it.

"It's nothing," I insisted, pulling my arm away as I hastily used a _Scourgify_ charm to vanish the bloodstain.

"Doesn't look like nothing," murmured Charlie, brow furrowed with concern as he brushed his hand along the bandage.

I blushed, "I'm fine, really," I replied, "It was just a little slip up that's all. Nothing for either of you to worry about," I added pointedly.

"But …"  
"Forget it," Bill said, "You're not gonna get any more details from her, Trust me."

Charlie hesitated, "Did you at least clean it out before you bandaged it?" he asked eventually.

I nodded, "Of course," I replied, "Don't tell me that you've forgotten about all those times when I had to patch you up."

"Alright, well that helps I suppose," he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck as he let me go, though I could tell that he wasn't happy too about it.

"Besides," I added with a smirk, "I should be the one mad at you for not coming on time."  
"Yeah, yeah, Bill's already given me an earful for that," he replied, cheeks flushed as he averted his gaze.

"But you're more than welcomed to add in," grinned his older brother.

"_Bill_!" Charlie scowled before his stomach let out a low grumble.

I laughed, "Well, I suppose we might as well head off for a late lunch."

* * *

I was going to suggest that we go for street food, but Charlie admitted that he hadn't even had breakfast yet so we decided to look for somewhere to sit down and the only place that we managed to find that still had a lunch menu was a small fish and chips shop a little off the main road. We stood a bit out of place with Charlie's trunk still in tow but the owner didn't even blink as we walked inside and chose a booth.

"Blimey, I don't remember the last time that I've ever been in a fish n' chip shop," murmured Charlie, his stomach growling as he pulled up a chair, "Romania doesn't have any decent fish n' chip shops."

"Seriously?" Bill raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously," nodded Charlie, "Not that I don't like Romania, but …"  
"It's nice to have a bit of something from home, isn't it?" I finished his sentence as I sat next to him.

"Exactly," he replied.

"Whatever," said Bill, "As long as we don't have fish and chips every day I suppose it's alright …"

"Aw, but fish and chips are the best!" whined Charlie.

Bill rolled his eyes; "I think you'll find that there's more to food than just fish and chips, Charlie."

"Oh let him have this one, Bill. Remember, we have a whole month to introduce Charlie to proper food," I said.

"Fish and chips are proper food though …"

"Alright," Bill relented, "Fish and chips it is."

* * *

The rest of the Weasleys arrived by Portkey the next morning.

"Oh Bill, Charlie, Bethany," beamed Mrs Weasley as she trotted towards us, "It's been too long!"

"You only saw us a year ago, Mum," Bill pointed out as she gave us all bone-crushing hugs.

"It's great to see you too, Mrs Weasley," I smiled, eventually extracting myself from her embrace.

"Oh call me Molly, dear," replied Mrs Weasley, "And is it so wrong for a mother to be happy to see her children again?"

"Um, you do realise that you have other children too, Mum," drawled Fred from behind her, but Mrs Weasley ignored him.

"Oh, I've missed you both so much!" she continued as she doted her two eldest boys with kisses, "Though I must admit Bill, dearie, that your hair is getting a bit long … yours too, Charlie … I can always give you both a little bit of a haircut when we get back …"

"Mum, please, not in public," blushed Charlie, pulling away as soon as he saw her fingering her wand.

"But it'll only be a trim …"

"Ginny? Is that you?" I asked as Charlie and Bill argued with their mother, "Merlin's beard, you've grown up so much I almost didn't recognise you …"

Ginny blushed; uncharacteristically shy as gave me a brief hug before drawing away just as quickly.

"Is that my little dragon?" grinned Charlie, laughing as he scooped Ginny up in his arms and twirled her around, "Bethany's right, you've become a right, proper young lady now …"

"Bethany, William. How nice it is to see you."

Percy held out his hand solemnly as though he and I had never been properly introduced before.

"Um, it's nice to see you too Percy," I said, trying my best not to laugh as he shook hands with his very confused older brother.  
It was rather like being introduced to the mayor.

"I hope you've been well," continued Percy rather pompously, chest puffed out to make it nearly impossible not to notice the shiny new badge protruding from the pocket of his buttoned-up dress-shirt.

"Yeah, well thanks …"  
"Oh, brother!" said George, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply _divine_ to see you, old chap …"  
"Splendid," agreed Fred, shoving George aside and seizing my hand to shake in turn. "Absolutely _marvellous_."

Percy scowled.

"Now, that's enough you two," frowned Mrs Weasley.

"Oh, mother!" continued George, who, despite having arrived together acted as though he'd only just spotted her and clutched her hand too. "How really _corking_ it is to see you on such a _fine_ day …"

"I said, that's _enough_," replied Mrs Weasley, sighing before she turned to face us again. "I suppose you've heard the exciting news, then?" She pointed to the brand-new silver badge on Percy's chest that he'd no doubt been wearing ever since he got it in the mail. "Second Head Boy in the family!" she beamed, swelling with pride as she spoke.

"Second and the last," muttered Fred under his breath.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," retorted his mother, crossing her arms. "I notice that they didn't make either of you Prefects …"

"Prefects?" Fred recoiled, "Merlin! Can you imagine that Georgie?"

"Urgh!" grimaced George, looking equally as revolted by the idea, "Why on earth would we want to be Prefects? It'd take all the fun out of life …"

"And turn us into … into … _Percy._" added Fred with a shudder.

Ginny giggled.

"You should be setting a better example for your sister!" snapped Mrs Weasley.

"Oh, please," replied George, "We're _excellent_ role models for our sister."

"Don't worry, mother." Percy said loftily, "Ginny's always got _other_ brothers to set a more suitable example for her."

Bill shook his head, "Perhaps we should get going."

"Way ahead of you," nodded Charlie.

* * *

"Blimey, it's hot out here, innit?" said Ron, wiping his hand across his forehead as if to try and shield his eyes from the sky as we stepped outside into the sweltering heat.

Even at this time of day, the sun was bright and beating down on the Weasleys, who, after spending so much time in the UK were unprepared for Cairo's weather.

"Well, of course, it's hot, Ronald," drawled Percy, rolling his eyes, "It's _Egypt_."

Fred and George both pretended to gag at the remark.

"Yeah, _Ronald_," said George, mimicking Percy's haughty tone, "How _dare_ you simply comment on the weather …"

"How absolutely _horrendous_ of you," mocked Fred.

Percy made a humphing sound at the back of his throat as he shook his head.

"So, I take it that we're not going to be using brooms?" Charlie deduced as we reached the pavilion outside Gringotts.

"Well, normally you'd have to rent a flying carpet, but luckily Bethany here was able to borrow some from Gringotts for the week," Bill explained as he gestured towards the two waiting carpets.

"Wow," Ron said.

"Wicked!" the twins chimed.

Already I could tell that they were quietly scheming something behind Percy's back.

"We'll split up into two groups," I announced, quickly placing myself between the brothers before any shenanigans could take place.

"Good idea," nodded Bill, who had already unfolded his carpet while mine shook itself out.

"This does not seem like a safe mode of transport …" frowned Percy.

"But that's what makes it _fun_, Perce," grinned Charlie as he got on behind me.

Percy crossed his arms. "Flying carpets aren't even approved by the British Ministry of Magic," he retorted with an a-matter-of-factly expression on his face.

"Well, it's a good thing we're in Egypt then innit?" smirked Fred.

Percy scowled at him before continuing, "You cannot expect me to …"

"Percy, I don't mean to be rude or anything but you can either get on board or die of both heatstroke and sunburn walking in forty-degree heat," I replied, "Your choice."

The twins both made 'oohing' sounds as Percy's ears tinged beetroot before he relented, "I … very well. But only because I burn easily."

"Brilliant," Arthur Weasley grinned, his eyes positively shining with excitement as he patted a spot beside him on Bill's carpet for Percy to sit on.

"Alright, everybody sorted?" asked Bill as he took both corners as if taking the reins of a stallion, "Hold on tight."

Our carpets took off, soaring over the city with Bill's carpet in front, leading the way.

"This is awesome!"

"You can see everything from up here!" beamed Ginny as she peered over the edge at the bustling streets below.

"Don't pull on me like that, Ginny. You'll push me off!" said Ron, detaching Ginny's arm from his waist. Ginny's cheeks went scarlet as she apologized sheepishly and George grinned.  
"Don't worry, I'll help you push him off when he's not looking," whispered George.

"Oi, I heard that!" snapped Ron.

"Good!" replied Fred.

"I think I'm going to be sick, …" groaned Percy who had turned a pale sheen of green as he sat next to his father.

"Please don't vomit on the carpet," begged Bill, glancing backwards from the front, "We've got these out for a week and I just got this one dry-cleaned …"

"Too late," beamed George.

"Oh dear, have this." Mrs Weasley magicked up a bucket in which Percy promptly began to hurl his guts into.

"Aw, great," Bill groaned, "It's going to take me ages to wash it out now."

* * *

It was late afternoon by the time we landed on the terrace of our apartment block, (Mr Weasley had insisted on seeing everything along the way).

"Oh, thank Merlin," said Percy as he stumbled off with shaky legs.

"Can we do that again?" asked Ginny; positively grinning as she quickly pulled her windswept hair into a low ponytail.

"Are you serious?" blinked Ron, "We spent the whole day going across the entire bloody city!"

"Yeah, I don't think that poor, ickle Percy's stomach could handle that much excitement," smirked George.

"That's enough, George," reprimanded his mother as she gave Percy a comforting pat on the back, "You know that your brother's sensitive to large altitude changes …"

"Oh yes, the poor, ickle Head Boy's sensitive to ickle changes in air pressure," teased Fred, "No doubt because his head's full of hot air …"

"Watch it," warned Mrs Weasley, "Or I'll be getting Bill to make the two of _you_ wash it out."

The threat alone was enough to silence the twins as we made it inside the blissfully air-conditioned apartment.

"Bill's apartment is the one on the left," I said as I flicked my wand, which magically rolled up the carpets by themselves, "And I already sent the luggage to your rooms," I added.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Charlie smiled as he slung an arm over my shoulder.

"Yeah, awesome," agreed Bill, "Oh, and don't worry about the carpet. I've still got one more coupon left so I can take it back to the dry-cleaners tonight."

"Great, because there was no way in _hell_ we were going to wash that out," said Fred.

* * *

_Now that was a bit longer, wasn't it? I decided to incorporate some of the twins' teasing the mickey out of Percy for becoming Head Boy because what else are siblings for? _

_Don't forget to comment and favourite!_

_Yours truly,_

_Sword Gold_


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, (though I really wish that I did). I'm nowhere near as talented as J.K Rowling is though so alas one can only dream_

* * *

**Letters and Snogging**

* * *

"Oh, loo- Is-n a-offer ow-Uhl," Ron said, his speech obscured by one of the biscuits that I had bought for them.

Ginny wrinkled her nose but nodded in agreement. "There's an owl," she translated without spraying biscuit crumbs everywhere.

"The little fella was coming up at the same time as we were," Charlie said, bits of was looked like a liquorice wand in his hair as he shouldered into the apartment with a large crate. George grinned as he held out what looked like a lengthy essay of a letter that had been attached to the owl's leg with a smirk.

It was Percy who shot up first, snatching the letter from George's outstretched hand and was about to rush away again before I raised my eyebrow.

"Well," he managed, "I think I'll retire to my room to continue studying for my N.E.W.T.s."

"Study?" Ron seemed horrified, "But we're on holidays!"

"Yeah, say, Percy, what do N.E.W.T.s even mean again?" Fred asked.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, we forgot what it meant," added George, "doesn't it stand for …"

"Naturally Exorbitant and Waggish Twit?" they chimed together.

"They're _tests_," hissed Percy rather peevishly.

"Ah! They're _tests_, George!" exclaimed Fred, feigning realisation.

George nodded, "Sorry, Perce. We thought it was an acronym you've been using to describe yourself."

They burst out laughing again as Percy rolled his eyes and stormed out of the living room with his letter still clutched tightly in his fist.

"What," Bill began, turning away from his saucepan of spaghetti momentarily to face his younger siblings, "was all that about?"

"Can't you tell?" I smirked as I finished untangling what remained of the twins' liquorice wands out of Charlie's hair.  
"Tell about what?" asked Charlie, depositing the suspiciously clinking crate that he had been carrying onto the dining room table.

"Well, I thought it was kinda obvious …"

"But not everybody can be a talented Legilimens now can they?" Charlie pointed out.

"True …"

"Will somebody _please_ tell me what is going on?" repeated Bill.

Ginny giggled. "Percy's got a girlfriend."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that," said Fred mildly with a wicked glint in his eyes.

"Bloody _hell_." Charlie's eyes widened, flittering from Ron to Ginny for confirmation.

"It's true," Ron nodded.

"We were as shocked as you are," George added, "Maybe if we …"

But Charlie cut him off.

"_No_," he said firmly, "You are not going to tease him about this. I'm sure she's a perfectly lovely girl."

"She is," replied Fred.

"Which brings us to the question," added George, "what the hell is she doing with _Percy_?"

"Blimey," Bill mumbled, returning to stir the sauce that was now simmering on the stovetop. "Well if pigs can fly …"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ron asked.

"Think of it like something completely unexpected happening," I elaborated, levitating plates from the overhanging cupboard, "Without the help of magic, like say, pigs flying, or …"

"Percy getting a girlfriend," supplied Charlie. "Why'd you ask?"

"Hermione just says it a lot, that's all," the younger Weasley answered quickly before the tips of his ears started to redden.

"And who's Hermione?" asked Bill, "Your girlfriend?"

"No!" Ron yelped, looking absolutely mortified as his other siblings sniggered.

"Right, I think that this is just about done," I intervened, gesturing to the spaghetti. "Fred, George, go wash your hands then go fetch Percy, and no you cannot torment him. Ron, Ginny why don't you two help me carry the plates and cutlery into the next room. I can set up some cushions on the floor because I doubt that your brother's table will be able to cope with more than two people sitting at it at once without being transfigured."

Bill flashed me a grateful smile as I hurried the children out of the kitchen.

"Merlin, this is _exhausting_," Bill murmured to Charlie once they'd left, "and Mum and Dad haven't even been gone for an hour."

"I have _zero _sympathy for you," Charlie said flatly. "You sent me out _alone _with the _twins_ into a foreign city. I most _definitely_ had it worse."

"I only sent you out to get something to drink; it's not like they forced you to buy … lager? Seriously?" Bill exclaimed after examining the contents of the crate that Charlie and the twins had brought back. "What are we going to give the others?"

"Don't worry, I came prepared," I replied, pulling a bottle of lemonade out my bag after I'd handed the plates to Ron and Ginny. "Though I have no idea what else you were expecting, asking them of all people to buy drinks for dinner …"

"Oh c'mon," Charlie said, "Ron's about to start his third year, and Ginny her second: They're not exactly babies anymore."

"Well Ginny certainly isn't," Bill muttered darkly.

There was a slight pause.

"Have Mum and Dad talked to you about that?" Charlie asked eventually, lowering his voice as he strained the spaghetti into the sink.  
I caught Charlie's eye as I collected the cutlery while Bill quickly averted his gaze back to the stove.

"She seems okay though," Charlie insisted. "I mean, she's quiet, sure, but …"

Bill nodded.

As Cursebreakers, Bill and I had both had our suspicions about how the object had possessed their younger sister, and, our collective experience told us that were very few things capable of doing it.

Bill had even confided in me that the only reason he thinks that his parents hadn't asked more questions was because they were so thankful for Ginny's safe return.

It wasn't something that Charlie, who had spent his entire life working with dragons would have heard of let alone suspected the fact that Ginny had most likely been possessed by a …

"Oi! Is dinner ready yet? I'm _starving_!" exclaimed Ron, poking his head through the kitchen doorway as if the lack of food in the living room would be his undoing and we all couldn't help but laugh as Bill and Charlie carried the cauldron of spaghetti into the next room.

* * *

The meal passed smoothly for the most part – the seven Weasley siblings and I sat on beanbags that I'd conjured on the floor to eat our food, something that their mother (had she not been being entertained at a restaurant with her husband) would have never approved of. It was, only shortly after finishing did Fred and George both get a gleam in their eyes that meant that trouble was on the way.

"So Perce," Fred began, "We hear that that letter of yours came from a certain …"

"Lady-friend," continued George.

"A certain lady-friend by the name of _Penelope_," added Fred.

"Who …" started George but was cut off by his older brother.

"I did indeed," Percy replied pompously, taking a sip of his beer. "There's something very lovely about hearing from your girlfriend, particularly when she's as delightful as mine."  
I heard Charlie stifle a snort at his tone of voice.

"I take it that's something you both can appreciate and understand? From your vast levels of experience?"  
"Well some of us can," mouthed Bill to Charlie and me, who, quickly became much more interested in collecting the remaining dishes.

"But that still doesn't explain what she's doing with _you_," rebuked Fred.

"I know," Percy said ruefully.

"And that's how you know you've got a good one," Bill replied drily.

"Tell us then," I said, changing the subject as I addressed the twins, "How many girls have _you_ two kissed?"  
"I snogged Alicia!" George announced triumphantly.

"Yeah, but she hexed you afterwards, and told you never to wave that mistletoe around her again," Fred added.

"Ouch," Bill winced.

"Oh yeah, like you did so much better with Angelina, who, I might add, punched you in the face before you could even get to the kissing stage," his twin retorted.

Fred shrugged, unashamed before he turned back to us, "What about you two then? When did you 'get it on'?"

"Charlie and Bethany are just friends!" Ron piped up, rather brazen from his less than half a pint of beer. "Just like me and Hermione!"

"Wait who's this Hermione again?" Charlie blinked.

"My friend," said Ron, as though that explained everything.

"Well, I wouldn't say that Bethany and Charlie here are _just_ friends …"

"Who wants dessert?" I said instead.

"_ME!"_

* * *

I opened the door, following the faint sound of crying until I found Ginny curled up in a ball beneath the sheets of Bill's bed, sobbing quietly.

"Nightmare?" I asked.

She nodded, bloodshot eyes quivering from behind her curtain of fiery orange hair as she gulped.

"Do you want me to fetch your brothers?"  
"No! Please don't!" she begged, her eyes suddenly flying wide open with panic, "They'd f-freak out and …"  
"Okay, okay, I won't," I promised, "Do you need me to do anything? To magic you a mug of hot milk or a sleeping draught perhaps?"

Ginny bit her lower lip, "Just stay with me for a little bit?"

"Of course."

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked, peeping through the door, "I heard crying …"  
"Just a bad dream," I replied as I rubbed the girl's back.

"Bad dream huh?" Charlie frowned, pocketing his wand as he came inside.

"It's the monster again," Ginny hiccupped, pulling herself back into a cocoon as she rocked back and forth.

"Monster?" Charlie blinked, "There aren't any monsters in here Ginny …"

"You don't get it, Charlie!" she exclaimed, a touch more hysterical now as her brother sat down at the foot of the bed. "_I'm_ the bad dream! _I'm_ the monster!"

"Oh Gin, don't say that." Charlie sighed, reaching over to stroke her hair as she slowly yet surely unravelled to crawl onto his lap before breaking down into tears.

It seemed that tonight would be a long night.

* * *

It was well past midnight by the time we got Ginny Weasley to bed.

"Goodnight," whispered Charlie, bending down to kiss her forehead as he tucked her in and I couldn't help but feel a wave of affection for the Weasley wash over me. He sat there; simply gazing over the form of his sleeping sister for a moment before he slowly got up and turned back to me.

"_Thank you_," he mouthed.

I smiled, "_Shall we_?" I mimed, gesturing towards the door.

"Oh Merlin, yes," Charlie nodded.

* * *

"What were _you_ two doing back there?" Bill asked rather smugly from his copy of the Evening Prophet as Charlie slumped into the nearest armchair.

"Ginny's been having nightmares," I explained before I let out a slight yawn.

Bill's smile immediately disappeared, his eyes widening as he dropped the newspaper, "What? What kind of nightmares?"

"Wouldn't say," Charlie shook his head, running a tired hand through his already ruffled red hair.

"Why not?" Bill frowned.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because she's a bit _traumatised_?" I replied, sitting on Charlie's armrest.

"Right, right," Bill rubbed the back of his neck; now looking sheepish "It's just that Mum and Dad told me that she's been having nightmares ever since she got back from Hogwarts …"

"Not surprising really," murmured Charlie, tracing absent-mindedly gentle circles over my thigh as his brow furrowed, "Considering what she's been through."

"But these nightmares could be more than just an after-effect," Bill continued hesitantly.

Now it was Charlie's turn to raise an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

There was a slight pause before Bill's gaze met with mine from across the living room.  
"But Dumbledore said that the Diary was destroyed," I pointed out, "You can't possibly think that it could still have its grasp over her after that."

Bill shrugged, "Well, the lingering effects of Dark Magic hasn't been unheard of …"

"True, but lingering effects and possession are two very different things."  
Charlie blinked, "Wait, what and _what_?"

Another pause followed by a sigh.

"Do you wanna tell him?"

* * *

_I wanted to explore the ramifications that Voldemort's possession of Ginny Weasley during the events of the Chamber of Secrets had on the twelve-year-old personally, mainly because I found that it was the one thing that was brushed over until The Order of the Phoenix. _

_How are they going to help Ginny build back her confidence? Find out in the next chapter! _

_\- S.G. _


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Some of the following could be seen as triggering to some. If so, you can skip this part if you want to but it does tie together with the rest of the story.__ I don't own Harry Potter or the wonderful family dynamic that are the Weasleys, though could you imagine? *sighs* _

_Author's Note: Also, this chapter is a bit different from as it works with different tenses whilst ... no, I won't spoil it ... you'll have to read it yourself to understand ..._

_Enjoy! - S.G. _

* * *

**A Daily Dose of Legilimency**

* * *

"Good morning dear," beamed Mrs Weasley as she let me in, "Thank you for staying back to help the boys wrangle the others. I don't think I can remember the last time that Arthur and I had such a pleasant night."  
"It was my pleasure," I smiled as I removed my scarf, "Speaking of which, I was actually hoping …"  
"GIVE IT BACK!"

"I DON'T HAVE IT!"  
"STOP LYING!"  
"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS BLAMING _ME!"_

"BECAUSE …"

"That's _enough_!" Mrs Weasley's shrill voice cut through the ruckus like a knife slicing through butter. "Fred, give your brother his letter back. And just because I'm at the front door doesn't mean that I can't see you trying to sneak beer into your orange juice, George!" She added sternly.

"Bethany," Charlie appeared from down the corridor, stumbling as he hurried to pull on a shirt, "You're just in time for breakfast!"

"Great," I grinned, stepping forward to re-button his top, "Your shirt's all lopsided."  
Charlie blushed, "These buttons are ridiculously small," he grumbled as I stood on my tiptoes to straighten out his collar.

George smirked, "More like he just rather you do it for …"  
"George Weasley, you mind your manners!" snapped Mrs Weasley as Charlie's face flushed an even deeper shade of magenta.

"He's not completely wrong though, Mum," Bill chimed, coming in from the kitchen with a tray piled high with pancakes, "I mean, those buttons are awfully small," he corrected himself quickly under his mother's glare, "I made pancakes!"

"Brilliant! I'm _famished_!" exclaimed Ron immediately trying to swipe the plate before it had even reached the table.

"Now boys, remember what we spoke about," said Mr Weasley.

Ron sighed, "Yeah, yeah, don't grab at the food before it reaches the table," he recited impatiently, "Now can we please eat?"

* * *

Mr and Mrs Weasley both exchanged glances.

"It might be worth a shot," Arthur said.

"Don't tell me that you're _considering _this, Arthur?" said Mrs Weasley, "This is Legilimency we're talking about …"  
"Molly, it's not unheard of for people to go to Legilimens for therapy …"  
"But _Legilimency_, Arthur!" she shook her head, "It isn't exactly your everyday appointment with the local Healer … oh, no offence dear," she added.

"None taken, Legilimency has been known to be a rather … invasive branch of magic."

"But it could help do something instead of just hoping that her nightmares will just go away," Charlie said defensively as if to shield me, "And I trust Bethany."

"I'm not saying that we don't trust her, sweetheart it's just …"  
"Just what? That you're scared that she'll do more help than you've …"

I flashed Charlie a glare that immediately shut him up as the dining room was filled with silence.

"What Charlie means is that by interpreting what's going on in Ginny's mind, Bethany has a better chance of being able to understand what's going on," Bill elaborated calmly after a while.

"But you're her parents," I continued, "The decision is ultimately up to both you and her."

Another moment's silence hung in the air as the Weasleys all looked at one another.

"Molly, dear, we've done everything that we could," Arthur Weasley spoke softly, "If Bethany's Legilimency can truly help then why not let her?"  
Mrs Weasley sighed, "I suppose if Ginny's alright with it then I can be too."

* * *

"Why don't you sit down for a sec?" suggested Charlie.

Ginny froze, her eyes narrowing on the plate of cookies that I had levitated in through the door with me before she eventually sat down opposite us.

"This is about my nightmares isn't it?" she deduced timidly as I set the cookies on the table between us and sat down.

"You're observant," I replied, nodding as Bill came back with a cup of hot chocolate.

Ginny frowned, her lower lip quivering so much that I didn't even need to try and delve into her thoughts to know that she was just as wary as she was afraid, and, it was only until she had taken a few sips of the steaming milk and reached for a cookie to nibble did I continue.

"Do you know what a Legilimens is?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Well, a Legilimens is somebody who can interpret the thoughts of others."  
"Like mind-reading?" blinked Ginny.

I frowned, "Well, not exactly …" I paused, thinking of how one could explain such an abstract branch of magic in a way that a twelve-year-old might be able to comprehend. "I like to think of it more like my mind has the tendency to reach out to another's, helping me to naturally … sense things in a way that other people perhaps wouldn't be able to, whether those things be memories, feelings, or thoughts."

"So … you want to read my thoughts?"

"Only with your permission of course," I replied.

"And you think that you can pinpoint where the nightmares are coming from?"

"That's my hope," I nodded.

"Remember that you don't have to do this if you don't want to, Gin," Charlie added calmly.

"But it might help," Bill pointed out.  
"What do you think?" she said, turning to face me instead, "Do you really think it will help?"

There was a moment of silence before the young girl's eyes slowly yet surely locked with my own: Brown, just like Charlie's.  
"I do," I nodded.

Another pause.

"Alright," Ginny replied, "Let's do it."

There was a yelp from the kitchen followed by a series of bangs and a puff of multi-coloured sparks.

"Were those … fireworks coming out of my kitchen?" Bill blinked before glaring at Charlie.

"Okay so they _might_ have made me buy beer, but I swear to Merlin I _never _bought the twins fireworks," Charlie insisted.

Another bang followed by the distinct smell of something burning seemed to suggest otherwise.

"I'll be back," mumbled Bill, shaking his head as he rose from the dining table and swung open the kitchen door only to be engulfed in a large cloud of putrid green.

"_Success_!" beamed George, his hairs sizzling and standing on end as he shared a triumphant high-five with his equally soot-covered brother.

It was only when they saw the scowling face of their eldest brother looming over them did they blanch ever so slightly.

"Would you believe us if we told you that this _isn't_ what it looks like?" asked Fred tentatively.

"Well 'it looks like' I'm gonna need to help Bill sort this one out," Charlie murmured, squeezing my shoulder and giving Ginny a reassuring pat on the head before he joined his brother in putting out the small fire that the twins had created in the kitchen.

"So," I said, turning my attention back to the red-haired girl in front of me, "Ready?"

There was a moment of slight hesitation, only broken by the sound of another small explosion followed by a few swear words from either Bill or Charlie.

She gulped, finally meeting my gaze again before she nodded.

"Ready."

I took another breath, focusing on her eyes, deep brown and quivering before they slowly yet surely began to close: vulnerable … afraid, but all so open.

"There we go."

* * *

I felt myself get pulled away, as if thrust underwater, feeling anxiety that did not belong to me rise in my throat, threatening to suffocate and swallow me whole, but I did not move. It was natural of course, to feel the backlash of somebody's emotions when delving through the mind of another but the amount of fear that I felt in that first moment was more acute than anything that I had ever experienced before; almost overwhelmingly so.

_This is Ginny's fear,_ I reminded myself, _not mine. _

I took another breath; long and deep, guiding myself through the pool that was the mind of Ginny Weasley as images began to appear, blurry at first as they shifted in and out of focus, like waves lapping over a seashore …

* * *

I saw Ginny, embarrassed as she pulls what looked like an old tattered copy of A Beginners Guide to Charms from her trunk, trying to hide it from her roommates and felt a pang of guilt; the Weasleys had never been rich.

"Come on, we're going to be late!" calls her roommate.

"I'm coming!" Ginny replies, gathering the rest of her belongings, a pot of already half-empty ink, bent quills and parchment before hastily stuffing the lot into a worn book-bag that I recognised to have once belonged to Charlie. It is only when she hurries back out of the dorm and down the winding staircase do I hear the rip of fabric. The book-bag; torn at its seams split open, casting all of Ginny's school supplies down the stone stairs onto the common room floor. Her ink smashes, splattering over the carpet and her rolls of blank-parchment, soon followed by the large book.

Ginny blushes, her face going bright red to the very roots of her hair so that her cheeks very much resemble a setting sun as she goes to pick them up.

It's only when she finally picks up the spell-book does she find another smaller book in-between the pages, that, unlike the rest of her belongings that are now speckled with ink seems to be (though considerably worn) completely untouched.

She frowns, flicking through the blank, dated pages of the journal before looking back at the cover.

"Hey, you alright?" her roommate asks, clearly torn between wanting to help and obvious fear of being late for their very first day of classes.

"Yeah fine," Ginny says, tucking both books under her arm before looking at her ruined parchment, shattered inkpot and snapped quills in slight dismay.

"You can borrow some of mine if you like," her friend offers, bouncing on the balls of her heels impatiently as she helps Ginny up.

"That'll be great, thanks!" beams Ginny and the two girls share a smile that quickly turns into horror when the bell rings overhead.

"Oh no!" they baulk together, "We're _late_!"

The diary had to have been the one that Dumbledore was talking about, I thought as I watched the two first-years skid out of the Gryffindor common room towards the Portrait Entrance before the scene ripples into another.

* * *

It's dinnertime; the Great Hall is filled with laughter, loud conversations and the scrapping of cutlery on plates as Ginny talks spiritedly with the other first-years about their first day.

"I can't believe that you got it on your first try!" exclaims Ginny's roommate as Ginny helps herself to another glass of Pumpkin juice, "Madam Hooch kept saying that that rarely happens …"  
"It happened with Harry Potter!" chirps a blonde-haired boy through a mouthful of mashed potatoes next to them.

Ginny blushes, nearly choking on her Pumpkin Juice from the moment that she hears the name, Harry Potter.  
"He's the youngest Seeker in the entire history of Quidditch at Hogwarts!" continues the boy, seemingly oblivious to their reaction. "I got a picture of him today! Look!" He shows them the black-and-white photograph that he's been carrying with him all day. In it we can see Gilderoy Lockhart clutching Harry's shoulder in an attempt to drag him back into the frame of the photo while simultaneously waving at the camera; it seems that Harry who is making quite an effort not to be seen is fighting against the wizard so you can only see the very tips of his messy black hair and the shine from his glasses.

"I got Professor Lockhart's signature but Harry vanished before I got the chance to ask him for his," this seems to briefly disappoint the boy before he beams again, "Look, there he is! Harry! Hey, Harry! It's me! Remember? Colin Creevey? I saved you a spot!"

"Thanks, Colin," Harry smiles, half-grimacing as he hears Ron snicker slightly, "But I've already eaten."

"Oh, next time then! Bye Harry!"

"Bye," Harry inclines his head in their general direction, his cheeks slightly pink before he turns back to the heated conversation that his best friends Ron and Hermione are having about Gilderoy Lockhart ("Oh come on, Hermione, the man's an idiot!" exclaims Ron.)

"Your brother's so lucky to be friends with Harry Potter," Colin exhales as he tries to snap another picture of the fleeting trio with his camera before sitting down again.

"Yeah," Ginny sighs, her gaze still following the retreating mass of messy hair, "Lucky."

* * *

Back at the dormitory, everybody is fast asleep, all apart from Ginny who is in her dressing gown at the windowsill, her freckled face illuminated by the lamp flickering in the corner as she stares at the diary on her lap. This is perhaps the third time that she's done this since discovering it between the pages of her book.

She flicks through its pages again, briefly pausing on the aged cursive writing that inscribes _"Tom Marvolo Riddle"_ at the beginning and frowns.

"Maybe it just came along with my supplies," she says aloud, mostly to herself before she lets out a yawn and sets it down.

The clock shows that it's nearly midnight.

She rubs her eyes, returning the lamp and diary to her bedside table before blowing out the candle and going to sleep.

* * *

Another day passes, Ginny sits at one of the tables in the common room, studying. She poises her lips, chewing on the end of her quill as she overlooks her Charms homework. To the side I see her Charms books open on a page about the Levitation spell and the diary still inscribed with the name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' pushed to the side near an open bottle of ink. She gives the paragraph a quick look over, only scribbling out a mistake or two before she smiles, satisfied.

It's only when Harry comes in, slick with sweat from Quidditch practise does Ginny's head snap to the side, elbow bumping into the table which tips the ink onto the diary. Ginny blushes, no doubt humiliated as Harry gives her a small smile before returning to his dormitory.

Ah, why is he so perfect? She wonders as she quickly goes back to mopping up the spilt ink that has half covered the table and small diary. She picks it up, expecting it to be soaked in ink but instead it is (like before) completely dry and intact.

Ginny frowns, puzzled over this before she picks up her quill and scribbles the word _'hello'_ onto one of the pages. She watches with amazement as the letters disappear into the paper and vanish as if it were never there before the diary writes back.

_Hello. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come across my diary?_

Ginny grins as she quickly begins to write back.

* * *

Ginny spends all of her time writing to the journal now. She writes about everything, but mostly about the one thing that is constantly on her mind: Harry Potter. Tom's replies fill Ginny's heart with happiness and hope.

It seems that, even if none of her friends or family fully understand her, at least her diary does ...

* * *

It's morning; Ginny is woken up by a splitting headache to find herself and her sheets covered in blood and chicken feathers. She screams.

* * *

The next day she passes the girls bathroom, where Filch is still mopping up water with ugly sobs. The words: _"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware"_ still shine emblazed in thick letters on the wall. Filch glares at her accusingly like he now does with everybody before going back to standing guard of the area where Mrs Norris' frozen body was first discovered. The petrification of his cat is very upsetting and, though she has quickly learnt to dislike the caretaker can't help but feel pity towards him: as she too, is a cat lover. Perhaps it is the fact that nobody can remove the writing on the wall but Ginny feels deeply troubled. The only consolation she has is that, according to her brother: this sort of thing doesn't normally happen at Hogwarts and the professors will soon put a stop to it.

* * *

Ginny is on her way to bed after visiting the hospital wing at the end of a Quidditch match where Harry Potter lost all the bones in his left arm when she hears the sound of footsteps. She freezes, flattening herself to the wall as an assembly of teachers approach. Ginny watches horrified as they pass, carrying a Petrified Colin Creevey on a stretcher in the direction of the Hospital Wing. His camera reflects off the passing torches, illuminating the boy's frozen expression behind the lens as well as the very troubled look flickering in the eyes of the Headmaster himself. Her lower lip quivers as she stares, transfixed by the sight long after the professors have left before coming to her senses and hurries back in the direction of the common room once more.

* * *

I went through memory after memory, sickened by Riddle's grooming of the eleven-year-old through the confides of his journal and watching with an aching heart as Ginny Weasley's world delved deeper and deeper into isolation.

Each thing kept coming back to Tom: always Tom, and, as darkness began to fill her mind I saw the briefest glimpse of what Ginny saw every night:

Her own reflection staring back at her with the crimson gaze of Lord Voldemort himself …

I gasped, my eyes flying open with the backlash of being brought back to reality, followed by Ginny who roused as if woken from a troubled sleep, blinking wide-eyed back at me.

"_You don't get it, Charlie! I'm the bad dream! I'm the monster!"_

Everything finally seemed to be falling into place.

"I think I get it now."

* * *

Mr and Mrs Weasley both exchanged anxious glances as we watched Ginny leave the room to join the twins in whatever antics they were up to.

Mr Weasley cleared his throat, "So are you sure that there's nothing else we can do to help her?" he repeated.

I nodded solemnly, "She's honestly lucky to have survived what she's been through, but what Ginny's experiencing now is a _psychological_ barrier," I explained, "I can help smooth things over but often the only way to overcome such darkness is to go through it personally."  
Mrs Weasley's bottom lip trembled before she burst into tears.

"Oh, my poor Ginny! Arthur, what have we done?"

"It's not your fault, Mum," Bill replied, immediately reaching over to comfort his mother as she sobbed into her husband's robes.

"Yeah, you did everything that you could," agreed Charlie.

"And I'll be there to council Ginny through each step of her recovery," I added reassuringly as I conjured up a handkerchief.

"I'm being silly of course," Mrs Weasley hiccupped, accepting the handkerchief to dab at her eyes before turning to face me, "It just that you've already helped her so much in ways that Arthur and I were never able to and I can't help but feel that we've somehow failed her …"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mum, of course, you haven't failed her," Charlie replied, chastising her gently with a snort.

"And your children are beyond lucky to have you for a mum," I said, "Trust me."

Hearing that made his mother tear up all over again, "Oh thank you, dear," she blushed, managing a very watery but genuine smile.

* * *

_Well that was quite a ride, wasn't it? The change in tenses was inspired by the Legilimency lessons that Snape had with Jacob's sibling shortly after discovering that she was a Legilimens. The way he recounted the main character's memories as if he were flipping through the pages of a storybook was intriguing and I decided to utilise a similar technique to distinguish Ginny's memories from the rest of the chapter. I hope you've enjoyed this story so far. _

_Lots of love,_

_Sword Gold. _


	5. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All credits go to J.K Rowling for creating the amazing Wizarding World that we all know and love_

* * *

**Tombs and Beetle Soup**

* * *

"Bloody hell," exclaimed Ron, as we climbed up to the terrace, "You know, I reckon I'll never get used to this heat."

"It's Egypt Ronald," replied Percy, rolling his eyes, "What did you expect it to be? _Snowing_?"

Ron scowled.

"Don't worry Ron, three years here and I still haven't gotten used to it either," I said, ignoring Percy's remark as I readjusted Ron's headscarf for him.

Our carpets took to the air flying. Percy was starting to turn a very pale shade of green; something that Fred and George had noticed and was trying in vain to get away from.

Ginny took to holding onto Ron whilst still trying to look over the edge to see the city below.

"Gin, what did I tell you before?" said Ron, shaking her off his shoulder, "If you keep bending over like that we'll both fall off."

"Oops, sorry," Ginny blushed rather sheepishly.

"It's alright," reassured Charlie, his shoulder brushing against mine as he readjusted himself, "Hey Gin, why don't you seat on my lap? I've got a much better view than Ron does."

"Just be careful not to slip," I reminded her as she shuffled up towards Charlie, "We're getting pretty high now."

"Where exactly are you taking us?" yelled Mr Weasley over the roar of the wind rushing past us.

"To our work site so we can show you around!" Bill yelled back, without turning around.

"But there's nothing there!" shouted Ron, gesturing to the desert that was now stretched out in all directions.

"Don't worry you'll see," I replied as I steered the carpet out of the sun.

The flight took just under half-an-hour. Charlie spent the time playing 'I Spy' with Ginny, Mr Weasley marvelled at the occasional bird that passed us by, Mrs Weasley magicked up a bucket for Percy and Ron complained about being hungry.

Bill and I landed the carpets next to one of the pyramids. Everybody stepped off (Percy's face now taking to a sheen of avocado) and looked up at it with squinted eyes. The marble structure stretched so high that its tip seemed to touch the sun and the Weasleys were having a hard time looking at it through its glare.

"Whoa," said Ron.

"Whoa," agreed the twins.

"This way," I said, waving my wand at their rucksacks that levitated their way a short distance towards a nearby tent, where everybody sat and had a quick lunch.

Bill was eager to show his family the _'good stuff'_, so, once everybody had settled down and rehydrated, Bill and I took them to the base of the pyramid where they all stared around in wonder at the hieroglyphic embroidered walls.

Each and every wall was covered the intricate illustrations, which I explained as we delved further into the pyramid, described stories and ancient rituals.

Bill and I then took turns explaining how some of the spells cast by Ancient Egyptian wizards were so powerful, it was impossible to even go near a few of the tombs without going weak. Predictably, Fred and George had wanted to go see some of these tombs but their mother very quickly shot down the idea.

"Bloody hell," Ron's eyes widened to the size of fat galleons as we passed through some of the tombs when he saw just how much gold there was.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I warned, catching his hand before he could reach out to pocket some the treasure. "Most of them are still cursed."

Ron nodded but still couldn't stop staring as we went through tomb after tomb.

Mrs Weasley wouldn't allow Ginny to go into the last tomb.

"That's not fair!" Ginny complained, "Why do the boys get to go and I don't?"  
"Because you're too young," replied Mrs Weasley.

"But I'm twelve-years-old!" whined the witch, "I'm not a baby anymore …"

"How about I wait outside with Ginny," I offered.

Bill frowned, "You sure?"  
"Positive," I nodded, "I've probably seen enough deformed skeletons for one lifetime."

"But I want to go see the deformed skeletons, too!" Ginny wailed.

"How about I let you choose a trinket from the treasure chest once we get back to the tent?" I whispered.

"Deal!" Ginny nodded.

_Thank you_, Bill mouthed back.

Charlie squeezed my shoulder before he followed the rest into the last tomb.

It was only when Ginny and I were on our own, waiting outside one of the tombs that Mrs Weasley had thought was 'too much' for a thirteen-year-old witch did I decide to broach the subject.

"So, I talked to your parents and they thought that it would be a good idea for you and me to spend some time together, to work through what you've been experiencing recently. Only if you're okay with it, that is," I added quickly.

The twelve-year-old considered this for a while before she shrugged.

"As long as you think it'll help," she replied.

"Great," I beamed.

* * *

"Finally, you lot took _ages_," Ginny said, once everyone had finished with their tour of the final tomb.

"Wait a moment," Mrs Weasley paused, "Where's Percy?"  
Both of the twins exchanged looks before ducking their heads.

"Fred, what did you do?"

"N-nothing," Fred muttered, looking anywhere but his mother while shuffling his feet.

Molly's eyes narrowed as she planted her hands on her hips.

"Were you trying to lock your brother up in that tomb?"  
"_No_," said Fred, "… Maybe?"

"Fred Weasley! I cannot _believe_ you would lock your _own_ brother inside a _tomb_!" Mrs Weasley's screams echoed throughout the whole cavern, "Think of what could've happened to him! He could've _died_!"  
"That was the hope."

Molly gave her son a strong smack across the back of his head.

"It wasn't like we were going to leave him there," muttered Fred.

"Yeah," added George, "We would've come back for him … eventually."

"As punishment, the both of you are going to be missing the mummification tour tomorrow," decided Mrs Weasley who had swelled like a bullfrog.

"What're you punishing me for? I wasn't the one who locked him in!" exclaimed George.

It took him only a second longer to realise that he should've known better than to try and fool Molly Weasley.

"Because it was most likely your idea, to begin with," retorted his mother sternly. "No tour and that's _final. _Now the two of you go let him out _right now_."

The tone of her voice left absolutely no room for discussion and, with her hands on her hips and nostrils flaring like a rhinoceros, the twins knew all too well that they had been defeated.

"_Fine_," sighed Fred.

"We were only trying to do you guys a favour," grumbled George as he and his brother released the door of the nearest tomb which Percy promptly fell out of looking rather dishevelled.

"Oi, where'd you get that from?" Ron asked Ginny, peering greedily at the gold sapphire embroidered scarab bracelet clasped around his little sister's wrist.  
"Bethany gave it to me," she replied proudly, "To make up for not being allowed to go into the last tomb."

"Is that solid gold? No fair!" cried out George, "Why don't we get one?"  
Charlie raised an eyebrow, "Does she really need to answer that?"

There was a slight pause.

"Yeah, didn't think so."

"What was that all about before?" asked Ron the twins as we left the pyramids.

"Tried to lock Percy up in the tomb," George muttered.

"Mum caught us though," supplied Fred, scowling as he kicked his frustration out on some nearby sand only for the wind to blow it back into his face.

"Oh well," Ron patted both of them on the back, "At least you tried."

* * *

The twins were still sulking over the fact that they would be missing out on the mummy tour when we got home, so they took out their frustrations on Bill by adding beetles to his soup.

I was about to say something but was interrupted by Ron.

"Hey, Bill, do you know what this is?" asked Ron, taking out the strange-looking object from his pocket. Apparently he'd found it in Bill's room after chasing Scabbers and nearly broke it when it started blaring.

"That would be a Sneakoscope," answered Bill between spoonfuls of soup while Fred and George cackled in the background.

"Awesome … what's it supposed to do anyway?" wondered Ron, bringing the colourful Sneakoscope to eye-level.

"Well, apparently whenever somebody is being dishonest it …"  
Without any warning the said Sneakoscope suddenly went off with a high-pitched whistle. Ron yelped, nearly dropping it in his soup, scaring off his traumatised looking pet rat in the process.

"… Does that," finished Bill, grimacing slightly.

"Things are rubbish though," he continued, "They never actually work; just some junk sold to make money off of wizard tourists. Besides," he added, "Even if they did work they're so _bloody_ loud that nobody who has one actually _wants_ to keep it."

Ron's eyes seemed to shine, "Can I have it then?" he yelled.

"Sure, take it," Bill shrugged, "I've been looking for a way to get rid of it."

"Wicked!" grinned Ron, leaving the table no doubt to send a letter to his mates.

Apparently, according to Charlie, the Sneakoscope kept shrieking throughout the rest of the night, proving Bill's point that it did not work. It was only later the next morning that the twins finally revealed that it was because they had indeed put beetles in his soup.

* * *

_So that was cool, wasn't it? My favourite part was when Mrs Weasley caught the twins after they'd locked their own brother in a tomb. *Sigh* if only I could do that to my siblings and get away with it ... _

_Remember to like and comment!_

_\- S.G. _


	6. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All credits go to J.K. _

* * *

**Downtown Cairo**

* * *

"Are you sure that you're okay with staying behind?" repeated Bill for the fifth time that evening as he pulled on a clean shirt.

"It's fine," Charlie replied as he wiped his brow. Even at this time of day, it was still ridiculously hot.

"Besides," he added, "Would you want to leave the twins by themselves in your apartment?"

Bill considered this for a moment before quickly realising what his brother meant.

"Alright, point taken." He agreed, "But are you sure you'll manage on your own? We can always leave the tour for another day …"  
"I won't exactly be on my own though," replied the dragon-tamer, trying to sound casual as he spoke.

It only took a second before Bill started to grin.

"Oh, I see how it is," he smirked, "You're hoping to spend some time alone with Bethany …"

"What? No!" Charlie blushed as he averted his gaze. "Bethany offered to come and help me out, that's all …"

"Right," Bill replied, waggling his eyebrows, "I suppose she could help you out with plenty …"  
"What are you …" Charlie paused before it dawned on him, "Oh, bloody _hell_ Bill, you're _disgusting_!"

He shoved him away; cheeks now positively crimson before he stormed out into the corridor as his older brother snorted in the background.

"You might want to freshen up a bit then!" Bill called after him and Charlie shook his head.

_Thank Merlin she wasn't there to see that_, Charlie thought as he ran his fingers through his hair, which did nothing to calm his racing heart.

"_Merlin_, I need a shower," he murmured.

* * *

"Hey," Bill grinned as he opened the door, "Charlie mentioned that you'd be staying back to keep an eye on the twins with him. Is that true?"

I nodded, "Well, I couldn't exactly leave him alone with them could I?" I pointed out.

"That's true," Bill agreed as he let me inside. "Feel free to make yourself at home. The twins have been grounded to their room so they shouldn't bother you too much …" he trailed off meaningfully, though I didn't exactly catch on before he continued, "Oh and Charlie's probably somewhere in the back …"

"Don't worry," I replied calmly, "We'll make sure that you still have an apartment to come back to."

"That'll be nice," Bill winked, ruffling my hair before he put on his jacket, "I should get going, but you guys have fun, yeah?"

I smiled, closing the door behind him as he left, wondering what he the hell he'd been talking before …

It'll be fine. I told myself. Besides, how bad could watching over two teenage boys be?

With that in mind, I made my way down the corridor, the distant sound of water running making my thoughts wander to someplace else when I quite literally ran into a half-naked Charlie who was just emerging from the bathroom.

My nose smacked against his chest as I let out a yelp and stumbled backwards.

"Oof," Charlie blinked, automatically steadying me by my waist to keep me from falling. "Are you alright?"

My legs wobbled slightly as he tightened his grip; practically enveloping me with his strong, clean scent …

"Yeah, I'm fine," I stammered, rubbing my nose with one hand while my other was still pressed against his muscled chest. Droplets of water shimmered in the corridor light as they rolled off his biceps, making him look particularly attractive as he peered down through his fringe of wet hair to look at me. Our gazes met for a tantalising moment before I eventually managed to peel myself away from him and he hastily resecured the towel around his waist.

"Uh, I didn't hear you come in," Charlie replied, running a sheepish hand through his wet hair. "I hope I didn't make you wait too long …"

"No, I just got here," I said, heart still hammering in my ears as I averted my eyes quickly. "Sorry, Bill told me you'd be in the back but he never said that you'd be …"

_Naked_ went the unsaid.

"Course he didn't," sighed Charlie, ducking his head as the tips of his ears went pink. "Well, I should probably go get some clothes on …"

"If you must," I started before clamping my hands over my mouth, "I mean, yeah … clothes are good." I stammered instead, before managing to recompose myself. "I'll wait in the lounge room …"

"Alright," Charlie chuckled lightly with an affectionate smile before I made a hasty retreat back the way I'd come.

_Merlin's _beard, I shook my head.

I was never going to get that image out of my mind.

* * *

It didn't take long until Charlie emerged, clothed this time with a simple white shirt and denim jeans. I could tell that he'd practically pulled them on; the slight dampness sculpting his exterior, making the material slightly see-through and I gulped.

"Sorry about that," Charlie murmured, ruefully rubbing the back of his neck as he joined me on the couch.

"It's alright," I replied, relieved that my voice no longer sounded like I was squeaking before I quickly changed the subject, "Bill mentioned that the twins have been grounded to their room?"

"Oh, yeah, that," he said as he leaned his head back on the lounge. "They're not too happy about it, but at least they won't be running around …"  
I nodded, "Also, I took the liberty of checking the pantry and it turns out you've run out of food."

"That's slightly more problematic," frowned Charlie. "I could always make a run to the nearest supermarket …"

"Or, we could take this as an opportunity to explore Cairo's nightlife together," I suggested.

He blinked, "Really?"

"Well, I _did _promise your brother that I'd introduce you to Cairo's cuisines," I pointed out.

"I don't know," frowned Charlie, "I mean not that I'd protest to you taking me around the city, but what about the twins …"  
_BOOM!_

A resounding explosion that shook the entire apartment interrupted him.

Charlie and I leapt off the couch, wands in hand as we rushed down the corridor to find that, not only had the door been blasted clean off its hinges but the two of the five beds were also on fire.

"Oh, for _fuck_ sake!" barked Charlie as I put out the flames with a hasty _Aguamenti_. "Can the two of you go _five minutes_ without blowing something up?"

"Well, it's not _our _fault that we're stuck in here under house arrest," grumbled George pointedly.

"And you should be impressed that it took us this long to blow something up," Fred added coldly with a matter-of-factly expression on his face.

Charlie rolled his eyes, making a slight humphing sound at the back of his throat before he began to repair the bedroom door with a wave of his wand.

"Let me get this straight," I said, drying out the mattresses before making my way towards them, "You two are blowing up beds because you're _bored_?"

"Extremely," Fred nodded.

"Super bored," agreed George.

"And here we were talking about how we were going to take you guys out for dinner tonight, " I hummed ruefully.

"Yeah," said Charlie, who was quickly catching on, "Such a shame that you guys are too busy blowing up beds when you could be stuffing your faces with amazing street food …"

Both twins perked up as soon as they heard the magic word 'food'.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Fred, who had immediately leapt off his bed shortly followed by his brother.

"Yeah, let's go!"

* * *

After promising not to run-off, Charlie and I took the twins down to the streets. The setting sun brought a different side of Cairo out into the open. Rows of pop-up stores surrounded either side of the street; only now they sold food instead of souvenirs, filling the air with their exotic aromas.

"So, what sort of adventure were you envisioning on taking us on this time?" asked Charlie as we strolled through the streets of Cairo's bustling nightlife hand-in-hand.

"Whatever it is, we better be buying alcohol!" chimed George.

"No," replied Charlie, "You are not going to trick me into buying beer for you again ."

"Aw, but beer is the _best_, Charlie!" Fred whined before turning back to me, "Can we please go get ourselves something to eat on our own?" he begged.

"Alright," I said, handing them each a combination of muggle money and galleons from my pouch, "Remember your promise though: stay together and don't go too far."

"You're the best!" beamed Fred as he stuffed the money into his pocket.

"Yeah," agreed George, "So much cooler than Charlie …"

"And remember no alcohol!" Charlie called after them as the two brothers sped off into the crowd.

"Merlin's beard," he murmured, "I swear if they run off and get themselves in trouble …"

"Don't worry," I hummed, "I put tracking enchantments on their pouches."

Charlie chuckled, shaking his head as he wrapped his arm around me, "You never cease to amaze me," he grinned, "So where will be taking me now?"

"You'll see …"

* * *

I dragged Charlie along, the sound of alley cats and people bartering in Arabic ringing in our ears as we weaved our way through the crowded street before we came across a small restaurant. After ordering in Arabic, I returned with two shot glasses of Ma'an Sulta and handed one to Charlie.

"Shouldn't we eat something before we get drunk?" he joked as he examined the drink.

"It's not alcohol, it's a salad dressing," I replied, "Kind of like a palette cleanser."

"And you just … drink it?"  
I nodded, sipping it. The spiciness washed over my tongue as the flavour of mint and other herbs burst in my mouth before Charlie followed suit.

"Blimey! That packs quite a punch," he coughed.

"Too strong? You don't have to finish it …"

"No, no, it's alright," he lied before finishing it in another gulp.

I had to get him a drink of water.

"You alright?" I asked; patting his back as he gratefully accepted the water. "You weren't supposed to skull it down like that …"

"It's fine," he managed, "What's next?"

After assuring me that he had fully recovered from the Ma'an Sulta, we left the restaurant and found a trolley of spiky-looking fruits.

"How about something sweeter?" I suggested, tugging him towards the vendor before paying him. The local made quick work of peeling the fruit before he handed us a bag.

"They're prickly pears," I replied. "Fruit that grows from cacti."

I took one out for him to try and Charlie bit down into the fruit, juice dribbling down his chin as took a bite.

"Hmm, that nice," he grinned as he finished it. "Kind of like a kiwifruit but not as sour …"

I smiled, silently reaching out to wipe stray drops of juice from his chin with the pad of my thumb before handing him another one.

We spent the rest of our time going from store-to-store, trying dips with Lebanese flatbread, spiced lentils with Falafel and street-styled Koshary.

"Now, I think I get what Bill meant when he said that there was more to food than just fish and chips," said Charlie as he ate his second Kofta kebab.

I smiled as we walked side-by-side. The temperature had dropped considerably and I shivered. Unlike Charlie, I hadn't thought to bring a jacket with me.

"Cold?" he noticed and immediately draped his own over my shoulders and zipped it up. The jacket was a much too big for me, more like a large dress than anything else, but it was warm and smelt like him so I accepted it gratefully.

"What about you though?" I frowned.

"I come from Romania," he replied with a shrug, "I don't feel the cold."

I raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Really," he insisted, "I'm like a walking human furnace. See?"

He took my hands in his own and rubbed them together. Sure enough, they were blissfully warm.

I was about to respond when the twins came jogging in our direction.

"You won't believe what we found!" said George, as they reached us, panting slightly. Charlie sighed before he pinched the bridge of his nose, "What did you two do this time?"

* * *

"You went to a _what_ club?" spluttered Charlie.

"A strip-club," repeated Fred, looking rather proud, "Right there; around the corner. Or at least we thought it was a strip-club …"

"And we met these super hot girls back there," continued George excitedly.

"Hot as in super, smoking, hot," Fred added as if any clarification was needed.

"So we were wondering if there were any … _spells _that you knew for contra …"

But Charlie never let the two finish their sentence before he dropped his last kebab and grabbed his brothers by the collars of their jackets.

"That's it, we're leaving." The Weasley announced, ignoring the twins' whines as he dragged them back in the direction of the apartment.

We never did hear what happened to those girls that George mentioned.

* * *

_Thoughts anybody?  
\- S.G. _


	7. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

* * *

**Down by the River**

* * *

"When do we get to ride the camels?" George repeated for the sixtieth time that morning.

"Tomorrow, dear," his mother replied with an exasperated sigh.

"I get the front hump though, Georgie, you get the back," said Fred.

"But _I _want the front hump," argued George between mouthfuls of bacon.

"Well, I was born first so I should get the front," reasoned his brother.

"By fifteen seconds …"  
"Boys, calm down, you'll each be getting your _own_ camel," Mrs Weasley interrupted, "And George, what have I told you about talking with your mouth full?"

"How's your food, Ginny?" Mr Weasley asked, noticing Ginny's lack of conversation or appetite. She seemed to have just about fallen asleep where she was sitting but immediately shook herself awake when she heard her name.

"Huh?"

"Your food," her father repeated, brows furrowed, "You've barely eaten anything. Are you feeling okay?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm great!" she squeaked, accidentally sticking her elbow into the butter. "Just thinking about … camels that's all …"

"Alright then …" Charlie frowned, while I cleaned Ginny's butter stain with a simple _Scourgify_ charm.  
"Are you sure you've been taking proper care of Scabbers?" asked Percy whilst he examined Ron's rat who was lying on the table.

"Course I am!" replied Ron, "All he's ever done is eat and sleep …"

"But look at him, Ronald! He's practically skin and bones!" Percy pointed out, "I knew I should've never entrusted him to you …"

"What are you talking about? He's the picture of perfect health, Scabbers is. See?"

"He does look a bit thin, Ron," Bill admitted tentatively.

Ron scowled as he removed Scabbers and cradled him in his arms. "He's just old that's all," he insisted, "It's not like he was in perfect condition when Percy handed him down to me, and … and … the weather here doesn't agree with him!" He added quickly.

"Well, if you're worried, we could always take him to the local vet on our way to the Nile," I suggested as I levitated the empty plates to the sink for washing up. "There's one not too far from here that my cat doesn't mind."

"He's fine," repeated Ron, his ears going pink as he finished his eggs. "He's old and scares easily … and speaking of cats, there are way too many cats in Egypt, that's all … it's not like he's sick or anything …"

"Oh, how unfortunate," murmured George.

"How dare you!" Percy swelled like a bullfrog as he rounded on his younger brother, "Scabbers is as much a part of this family as any of us, and I won't tolerate any of this … rat discrimination!"

Charlie raised an eyebrow, before quickly changing the subject, "So about the Nile … do you reckon there'll be boat tours?"

* * *

"Have you ever braided hair before?" Ginny asked, sitting cross-legged in front of me while I ran a comb through her fiery red hair.

"My friend Penny taught me while I was in school," I replied, "I used to practice braiding hair on your brothers believe it or not …"  
I smiled fondly as I recalled those times that Rowan and I would spend in the common room, competing to see who could create the best braids.

"Really? I can't imagine Charlie agreeing to that …"

"That's because he'd only let Bethany braid his hair," Bill chimed as he sat in the nearest armrest with a small rug sack slung over his shoulder.

I finished tying off the two French braids with another headband. "And … finished," I announced, ignoring Bill's smug expression as I conjured up a small hand mirror for Ginny to examine her new hairstyle, "I gave you two braids. That way it'll be off your neck and out of your face. Is … that alright?"

"It's brilliant!" Ginny grinned from ear-to-ear, "So much better than any of Mum's."

"Well, I'm glad you like it," I replied, looking up to see Charlie leaning against the doorframe with an unmistakably tender look in his eyes and I blushed.

* * *

Most of the Weasleys took to browsing the various trinkets that the gift shop had to offer while Bill, Charlie and I skirted around the edges, waiting.

"Bill? Is that you?"

Bill turned around to see a busty blonde-haired witch making her way towards us from the gift-shop that he soon recognised to be his ex-girlfriend.

"Bianca," he managed a very weak smile that looked more like a grimace, "How … nice."

"William never told me that he had such … a handsome younger brother," the witch crooned, twisting a tendril of loose blonde hair around her finger as she smiled at Charlie who practically spluttered on his bottled water.

"Yeah, well, Charlie isn't interested in anything other than dragons," Bill replied rather coolly through gritted teeth.

"Oh, so _you're_ the dragon-tamer everybody been talking about!" she exclaimed, brushing passed Bill and me as if we simply did not exist. "I've always been fascinated with dragons, myself …"

I rolled my eyes.  
"Really?" That quickly got Charlie's attention and I couldn't help but groan internally.

_Of course, Bill's ex of all people was interested in dragons … _

"Why, of course!" she replied with a sweet smile, "My parents are muggles so they didn't believe in that sort of stuff until I showed them pictures …"

"Urgh, I think I might be sick," Bill muttered under his breath, pretending to vomit before walking away as the two struck an animated conversation about dragons.

_Join the club_, I thought, clenching my fists.

It wasn't like I'd ever hated Bianca's guts. The two of us got along quite well while she and Bill had been seeing each other. So why was it that I suddenly felt the strong urge to throttle the woman?

It was a feeling that ruminated in the base of my stomach, rising up my body like an itch that desperately needed to be scratched and only got worse when she reached out to touch his shoulder …

_Stop thinking about it and get a hold of yourself, woman. _I shook my head, mentally chastising myself as I forcibly tried to avert my gaze.

"I work with Romanian Longhorns mainly," replied Charlie, eyes widening as he noticed her advance and backed away almost immediately.

"Er, sorry," he added quickly, "but I think you've got the wrong impression …"

"Have I?" Bianca asked, her voice almost husky now as she cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah, you do." Charlie nodded, definite now. "You see I like talking about dragons but … how do I put this …"

It was only when I saw him begin to stammer that I finally decided to intervene.

"Charlie, there you are!"

A wave of relief washed over the dragon keeper's face as I jogged up towards them.

"Hey you," he grinned, enveloping me in a warm hug as soon as he noticed me while Bianca's expression darkened.

"Oh, you two know each other?" she asked, suddenly cold as she eyed me.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, we went to school together," replied Charlie, slinging an arm over my shoulder as he leaned in to kiss my cheek, "Couldn't imagine my life without her."

I blushed, and the interaction seemed to have dampened Bianca's mood considerably as she managed a cool smile.  
"I see," she said, suddenly a lot less joyful as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Should we get going?" Charlie asked, looking down at me with that same tender look in his eyes from before that made my heart leap a little in my chest.

I nodded.

We waved our goodbyes to the witch before leaving her to join the others who were already downstream by the docks.

"Thank you for saving me back there," Charlie murmured as we walked down towards the riverbank.

"Of course," I smiled taking his hand in mine, "That's what friends are for."

* * *

The rock-beds by the riverbank provided natural jetties, carved out by years of erosion and secured by thick manmade pillars, from which a line of feluccas was docked, rocking slightly even in the calmer waters.

Percy blatantly refused to step foot on the sailing boat in fear of the very real possibilities that he might either get seasick or thrown overboard by the twins, and it seemed that nothing could convince him otherwise.

"Aw, come on Perce," said Charlie, "You don't want to miss out on the boat tour."

"Yeah, we promise that we'll only push you overboard when the water gets shallow," Fred promised.

Percy shook his head, "I think I'll be better off staying onshore," he replied. "There are plenty of interesting historical things here on land than there are out _there_."

"Are you sure?" I asked, "It'll be much cooler on the boat, and I can keep an eye on the twins for you …"

"I rather stay here and explore if you don't mind …"

"But Percy, it's not safe to be on your own," implored Mrs Weasley.

"I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself," retorted Percy loftily as he puffed out his chest, "I am Head Boy after all …"

* * *

After spending another fifteen minutes arguing with her son, Mrs Weasley finally made the compromise that Percy could stay behind on the condition that he didn't stray any further from the nearby gift-shop.

"Shame Percy wouldn't come," said Fred as he leaned over the railing of the sailboat.

"Yeah, I reckon he'd _love_ to take a swim with the fishes right about now," agreed George.

"And it's exactly for that reason that your brother refused to come with us," snapped Mrs Weasley angrily.

"Oh, come on, Mum," replied George, "It's not our fault that Perce is such a wet blanket!"

Mrs Weasley made a humphing sound in the back of her throat.

"Wow," Ron exclaimed, reaching out to point at overboard, "Look at the size of that log!"

"Um, I don't think that's a log, Ron," said Ginny tentatively.

"Yeah, unless a log has eyes and moves around I think you'll find that's a crocodile," Bill replied as Ron quickly snatched his hand back.

A large current hit the boat and I lost my footing, only for Charlie to catch me in his arms. I could feel his heart beating faster than usual through his life jacket, or perhaps that was my own? I couldn't be sure.

"It's alright, I've got you," he murmured in such a way that I didn't know whether he was trying to reassure himself or me as he buried his chin into the crook of my neck. Even with our life jackets on I could feel his warmth as his calming scent completely overwhelmed my senses.  
"Thanks," I stammered.

It seemed that Charlie was always coming to my rescue.  
We stayed like that for a while before being brought back to reality by the twins' laughter.

* * *

"Remarkable creatures," Arthur Weasley beamed the next morning as he peered over the fence. "Trained by muggles to carry things you know …"

"I say, what is that _smell_?" coughed Percy, wrinkling his nose as he took a step away from the camels.

"Who cares?" exclaimed Fred as he pushed his brother out of the way, "I bag the big one!"

"What? No fair; I was going to choose that one!" replied George.

"They are all the same size," Ginny quietly pointed out.

"Are not," said Ron, "That one's hump is heaps bigger, see?"

"Will you four please, stop arguing?" sighed their mother as she straightened her straw hat. "Fred, don't push your brother like that. And Ron would you please finish your ice-cream first."

"It's not like the camels would mind," muttered Ron as he practically inhaled the last of his ice cream much to his mother's disapproval and licked his fingers.

"There's still no way that I'm going to ride on that … that _thing._" spat Percy.

"Oi, don't be mean," I frowned as I gave my camel an affectionate scratch behind the ears. "Camels are particularly sensitive, you know?"

The camel snorted in agreement as it nudged my shoulder, while another spat in Percy's direction as if to prove my point.

"I think that means it likes you, Perce." Charlie chuckled, patting his younger brother on the back as the Weasley recoiled.

"Though _Merlin_ knows why," added George cheerfully.

Percy huffed indignantly, "For your information, my girlfriend tells me that I am very likeable," he retorted.

"Probably 'cause she's bonkers," said Fred.

"Why you …"

"Alright, cut it out you lot," Bill replied, cutting them off as tensions began to boil between the two. "Just pick a camel, would you? We don't exactly have all day …"

* * *

Riding by camel was somewhat like riding a horse. Because there were only eight available to us, Bill took to riding with Ginny on his lap, while Charlie and I decided to share.

"Careful," Charlie murmured, lifting me easily as he helped me to mount first before he expertly hopped on behind me. There was very little space between us on the camel's hump and I couldn't help but blush as I felt his crotch brush against my pelvis.

"You good?" he asked, his voice tickling the back of my neck as he leaned in.

I nodded, barely managing a response as he weaved his arms around my waist to take control of the reins.

"Hyah."

The camel slowly picked itself off the ground before it started trudging forward.

"Um … I think there's something wrong with it," yelled Ron who was hanging on for dear life as his camel let out a guttural moan.

"Just give it a sec," called Bill.

"It kinda sounds like it's in labour, don't you reckon Georgie?" noted Fred.

"It's in _what_?" shouted Ron, looking panicked now.

"In labour, as in it's about to give birth," repeated George.

"Give birth!?" Ron paled, "To what?"  
"To a _baby_, Genius!" said Fred.

"Ah! Bill, help me!" exclaimed Ron, eyes wide with mortification, "I'm too young to be a father!"

"Aprigga's sake, Ron!" Bill let out a long sigh, "You haven't impregnated _anything_, alright? It's just taking a shit, that's all."

"_Language_, William!" scowled Mrs Weasley.

"Oh … right … I ... I knew that." Ron's ear tinged pink as the twins burst out laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha, oh, Ron! You should've seen the look on your _face_!" George wiped a tear from his eye as Fred clutched his stomach; laughing so hard that he almost fell off his camel. Even Ginny, who had barely spoken for most of the day, cracked up a smile as she giggled.

"I can't believe that you thought it was about to give _birth_!" snorted Fred, "Oh, and the look of sheer terror in your eyes; absolutely _priceless_!"  
I could feel Charlie's chest vibrate with barely contained laughter and smiled as I leaned back against him, put to ease by the warmth of his presence.

It seemed that no matter where they were, there was never a dull moment when it came to his family.

* * *

_Lol, Ron freaking out probably made my day.  
__Remember to favourite and review! - S.G. _


	8. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Daily Prophet._

* * *

**A Lesson in the art of Legilimency**

* * *

"Look!" Ron yelled, dancing around the living room with the latest newspaper in his hand. "We made the Daily Prophet!"

Charlie's eyes widened, "What? Really? Let me see."  
He plucked the newspaper from his little brother before reading it out loud over my shoulder.

_MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE_

_Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. _

_A delighted Mr Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank." _

_The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend. _

I scanned the moving photograph with a smile. They'd chosen the photograph that I had taken of all nine Weasleys waving furiously, standing in front of one of the pyramids: Plump little Mrs Weasley, tall, balding Mr Weasley and all seven children, all (though the black and white picture in the Daily Prophet didn't show it) with flaming red hair.

"Wow," exclaimed Fred, "I don't think that we've ever been in the Daily Prophet before. Not as a family."  
"And we didn't even blow anything up!" added George, "Can you believe it?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow, "What do you …" he paused "You know what?" Charlie shook his head, "Never mind."

* * *

I yawned, nestling myself in Charlie's embrace on the sofa as I skimmed through the Evening Prophet while he quietly sipped on his hot chocolate.

He stared out of the window with a far-off look in his eyes. Most of the Weasleys were long asleep: Bill had managed to cast a temporary Silencing spell on Ron's new Sneakoscope which had not stopped whirling for two days now and ushered Ron and his brothers off to share one of the guest rooms. They'd insisted that their parents take the night off, leaving us to mind the others.

I smiled, snuggling into the warmth that Charlie's chest provided and had just dozed off when …

"_Ahhhhhh_!"

Charlie dropped his mug, shattering as it hit the floor and I sat up, fully awake despite being so abruptly woken up before following the Weasley down the corridor and bursting into his brother's room.

Ginny's entire body trembled as she sat up in the bed, tears streaming down either side as she tried to open her mouth to speak before shutting it again.

"Bad dream?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

She nodded, her face pale as Charlie pulled her into a tight hug  
"I was there …" she stammered, "In the Chamber and he was … laughing at me … I tried to run but he tripped me over and I … it was so awful, Charlie …" she trailed off, breaking into quiet sobs as Charlie held her close. I knew from my prior glimpses into the girl's mind that the 'he' that she was referring to was Voldemort. She must have been remembering the last moments of consciousness before Tom Riddle rose from the diary …

Ginny took a few more deep breaths as if to calm down only to dissolve into tears.  
"Shh, It's alright," I murmured, sitting on the end of the bed as Charlie and I took turns stroking her back, "You're safe here. Charlie and I aren't going to let anything like that happen to you ever again."  
Ginny sniffled into Charlie's shirt before she eventually raised her head to look at us. "Y-you p-promise?"  
I nodded, "We promise."

It was only until Ginny had eventually settled down back to sleep did Charlie and I finally looked at one another.

We really couldn't put this off any longer. The Legilimency lessons had to start.

* * *

"So this is your apartment?" asked Ginny, peering curiously around the humble flat the next morning before she let out a happy squeal, "Ooh, you have a _cat_! Oh, she's _gorgeous_!"  
As if understanding the compliment, Sabrina padded over curiously and began to rub herself against Ginny's leg as the Weasley bent down to give her a pat.

"You like cats?"

"Oh yes," Ginny nodded, giving Brina a loving scratch behind the ear as she began to purr, "Mum would never let us get one though, says that she has enough work wrangling everybody as it is."

"That's fair," I replied, smiling as I gestured for her to sit down in the living room before I magically set the kettle on to boil in the nearby kitchen, "Would you like some tea? I have a special brew that I generally make for these sessions."  
"I don't mind," Ginny shrugged, kicking her shoes off before she plonked onto the couch, shortly followed by 'Brina, "What's her name?"

"Sabrina," I replied, levitating the fresh pot of tea and teacups towards the living room before the teapot poured out two steaming cups of tea on its own, "Brina for short."

"Brina," the name rolled smoothly off her tongue as she stroked the black cat, "What a cool name."

Brina purred.

I smiled, "I would have gone with something else but she chose the name herself," I explained before a jar of sugar came floating in from the kitchen, "Sugar or honey?"

"Sugar please, two spoonfuls."  
"You have a sweet-tooth; just like your brother," I noted, as I stirred the said amount of brown sugar into the hot beverage before handing it to her, "Careful, it's hot."

She blinked, "I didn't know that Bill had a sweet-tooth."

"Oh no, not Bill, I was talking about your other older brother, Charlie. He always adds sugar and honey to his tea." I smiled, shaking my head slightly as the leftover jars and teapot flew back to the kitchen bench.

"Oh, I know right? Used to drive Mum bonkers … _'Why are you putting so much sugar in your tea? Not only will it be undrinkable, but you'll also be eating us out of the house at this rate'_ …" she mimicked her mother's shrill voice and I couldn't help but laugh.

Ginny smiled, "Wait a minute, you said before that 'Brina chose her own name?"  
I nodded.

"But … how?"

I sipped at the hot liquid, pursing my lips slightly as I considered her question.

"Did I ever tell you how I got 'Brina in the first place?" I replied instead.

She shook her head.

"Well, it's quite a story," I said, sitting on the couch as Brina stepped over Ginny to sit in-between us. I gave my cat another scratch in her favourite spot just under her chin before I continued.

"It was during my first week in Egypt a few years back," I said, my mind going back to that particularly humid summer's night. "I was trying to find my way to Bill's apartment when I heard a little meow, it was quiet, like a whisper saying 'I'm cold' …"  
Ginny's eyes widened, "Really?"  
I nodded.

"So, what did you do?"  
"I did what anybody would have done in the situation, I followed the voice," I replied in a-matter-of-factly tone.

Ginny frowned slightly, "I don't think anybody would have down that," she pointed out.

I shrugged, "Perhaps, but I've always been the curious type … anyway, by the time I'd located the source of the sound, it was dark and it started to rain. We were in the middle of the monsoon season, you see, so we'd get sudden thunderstorms out of nowhere quite a lot. I ended up in a dark alleyway, and, inside one of the nearby dumpsters was an old Butterbeer crate where the small mewing was coming from so I dove in and found the tiniest little kitten that I had ever seen in my entire life."  
I smiled fondly at the memory, stroking Sabrina's head as I continued.

"How did she end up in there?"

"Who knows?" I shrugged, as the purring black cat nuzzled against my thigh. "From what I gathered, she was probably the runt of her litter and discarded by her previous owner, or maybe her mum was one of the many alley cats that tend to roam the city and was killed in some sort of accident. Brina here was too young to remember all of the details."  
"Me-ow," Brina chimed in looking up at us with her big green eyes as she stretched her body over the couch.

"That's right, Brina, and the rest was history."  
I smiled, remembering the expression on Bill's face when I finally turned up at his front door in the middle of the night, dripping wet with a tiny black kitten wrapped in my jacket.

"I still don't get it though," Ginny shook her head, "How did you actually understand that meow?"

I paused, "I'm not entirely sure, to be honest," I admitted, "Maybe it was my abilities as a Legilimens or Animagus … or … maybe I was just hallucinating about the voice because I was hungry? Who knows?"

I shook my head, "But I didn't bring you here to talk about me," I added, setting my tea aside before I crossed my legs. "Why don't we start off with some breathing exercises?"

* * *

It took a while, but together, after the first few sessions, we eventually managed to create a sort of safe-space in Ginny's mind, somewhere where she could always come back to when she was overwhelmed or scared.

"I like what you've done with the place," I noted as I sank into the beanbag opposite her.

"You … don't think that it's too much?"

"Of course not," I replied cheerfully, as I watched a golden snitch flitter through the air above us, "On the contrary, I find it rather splendid."

"But you told me that I should keep things simple," she frowned.

"No, I suggested that you should keep things simple at first," I corrected her gently, as the ground beneath us turned into lush, green grass. "Remember, this is your world Ginny, not mine." I gestured, "I'm just a visitor."

"Right," she nodded. Honeysuckle and lavender began to sprout in the softest shades of white and purple around us as she slowly relaxed, filling the air around us with its sweet, calming aroma.

"So," I started, "What shall we work on today?"

* * *

_I really enjoyed writing this chapter. With still so little known about Legilimency, I thought it would be cool to add a bit of character to the MC's particular talents. And yes I named the cat Sabrina. Maybe because I've just finished watching the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part Three? Was it too much? Let me know!  
__Yours truly,_

_Sword Gold. _


	9. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

_Author's Note: As you can probably guess by the chapter's title, the following contains the lemon that you all have been requesting. _

* * *

**Kiss But Don't Tell**

* * *

It was late on the last evening of the Weasleys' month in Egypt when I opened the door to see Charlie, looking somewhere between bashful, awkward and exhausted.  
He rubbed the back of his neck, "I hope I'm not bothering you, but I was wondering if …"

"Come on in," I replied, gesturing for the Weasley to step inside before he could finish his sentence.

"Thanks," he mumbled, coming inside where he promptly collapsed on my lounge. Somewhat disgruntled by the intrusion, my black cat Brina leapt off the armrest and padded towards the kitchen with an agitated flick of her tail as I shut the door behind me.

"Can't sleep?" I guessed as I sat down beside him.

Charlie nodded, barely able to bite back a cute yawn as he rubbed his eyes.

"I can't help but think about Ginny," he admitted quietly, "And Bill's snoring doesn't exactly make things any easier."  
"Hey, he's not the only one who snores you know?" I teased with a gentle nudge.

He frowned, "Are you suggesting that I snore?"  
"And talk in your sleep," I added.

Charlie huffed, pouting slightly as I began to massage his shoulders.

They were tense and much denser than I remembered as I gradually worked my way through each knot.

"Oh, that's nice …" He shut his eyes, leaning back against me as I embraced him from behind.

"You shouldn't worry too much about Ginny," I said as I continued to knead his back with my fingers, "She's been doing well in our sessions, and now at least she has techniques that she can put into practice when she goes back to school."

"But isn't the fact that she needs sessions in the first place a little bit worrying?" he questioned.

"Not really," I replied, "It takes time for these things to heal; both physically and psychologically. You of all people should know that."

"I suppose," he nodded after considering this for a moment, "But she's my baby sister, I'm always going to worry about her."

"Does that mean the massage isn't helping?"  
"Oh no, it's helping," Charlie replied reassuringly, "Merlin, I'd almost forgotten how good your massages were."

I pouted, "And here I thought you wanted to spend time with me for my amazing company," I drawled, poking his shoulder lightly.

"I _do_," he replied, turning around so that we were now facing each other.

"I don't believe you," I replied.

"Oh yeah?" he waggled his eyebrows, "What about … now!"

His fingers found my weak spot with pinpoint precision as he began to tickle me.

"Ha-ha-ha, I … still d-don't ha-ha-ha believe …" I could barely breathe as laughter erupted from my throat. He was now on top of me, his rough fingers dancing across my stomach as the tickling continued.

"Say that you yield!" his voice was barely audible over the sound of my giggling, "Say that you believe me or the tickling will continue!"

He lessened his onslaught, just enough for me to choke out my surrender before he finally stopped.

"So," he exhaled, his mouth only millimetres from mine, "You believe me now?"  
I smiled still flushed with exhilaration, "Maybe."

He grinned, irises sparkling like amber in the now dying light.

"Stay here tonight," I blurted out.

Charlie froze; eyes wide as if a Bludger had whacked him across the head.

"I'm sorry," I apologised immediately, "I thought that you wanted … I didn't mean … I mean I did but …"

He touched my cheek, then, ever so gently, brushed his lips against mine. That very first touch was enough to steal my breath away, if only for a second, but I already knew that there was nothing for me to be afraid of – not when I was with Charlie.

I kissed him back, revelling in the sensation of having his lips on mine. Kissing Charlie Weasley was like drinking Butterbeer – every single touch sending warm tingles of giddiness up my spine as I melted against him.

It seemed that somehow, despite everything, I had always known how to kiss Charlie – how to touch him. It was almost as if the knowledge had been there inside of me all along, simply waiting for the right spark to bring it to life.

At some point my cardigan had slipped off my shoulders, exposing my arms to the cool air, and his hands slid upwards to cover me accordingly, the palms of his hands gloriously warm against my skin as his fingertips brushed along my shoulder blade. The feeling of his skin on mine was so much better than I could have ever imagined, and I let my head fall back to let out a short sigh.

I wanted him to go further, to touch me in every place that I needed to be touched …

"Bethany," his voice was soft against my skin, his lips brushing against the hollow of my throat. "We should …"

"Don't you want to get carried away?"

A sort of groan-half-growl escaped from his lips as he regarded me for a moment.

"I would very much like to get carried away," he admitted quietly.

"Then we don't have to stop," I replied, drawing him close for another kiss. Charlie crushed me against his chest as our lips met again – charged – almost desperate.

His fingers brushed against the strap of my singlet, slowly inching it away until it slipped down my shoulder, exposing the top curve of my breast. My breath hitched as he continued tracing that line from my ear down along my shoulder to the base of my naval with the soft callouses of his thumb, but he still seemed too far away …

"Meow."

"_Ouch!_ What the …" Charlie frowned, temporarily pulling back to try and locate the source of the noise. It seemed that Brina had taken a liking to claw at Charlie's barefoot.

"Turns out we're not as alone as we thought," I giggled as she leapt between us and meowed.

"I don't think she likes me," murmured Charlie.

"No, she likes you – she just likes her couch more, don't you, 'Brina?" I replied, giving her a gentle scratch behind the ear.  
Brina purred, rubbing her head against my thigh.

"Trust me," I added, reading the doubt on his face, "You'd know if she didn't like you."

Charlie opened his mouth as if to ask how exactly that was the case, but seemed to decide that upon thinking about it, he'd rather not know.

"Brina's an interesting name," he said instead.

I nodded, "Short for Sabrina," I replied, "I would have gone with Isa but she liked 'Brina better."  
Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"It's … a long story."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," he smiled gently, brushing a stray tendril of hair behind my ear.

I blushed, heart-throbbing as we stared at each other for a few more moments before Brina let out another mew.

"I suppose that's her way of kicking us out?" guessed Charlie.

I nodded.

Another pause.

"Bedroom?"  
"Bedroom."

* * *

I woke up the next morning in my bed feeling a lot more rested than I had for a long time. Beside me, Charlie laid fast asleep, his arm draped over my torso. I stirred, sunshine streaming in from behind the curtains, illuminating my bedroom as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

That's when I noticed our apparent lack of clothes and last night's events came thundering back to me all at once.

_Merlin's beard, had we really? _

I quickly checked and let out a sigh when I felt that his jeans were still in-place. We hadn't had sex: we'd come close – but we hadn't.

I wasn't sure whether that relieved or disappointed me.

The thought made my cheeks burn as my eyes fell on his face, brushing away a single mused curl of his orange hair.

He looked almost angelic as he slept. Charlie frowned slightly; reaching his hands in my direction until they properly found my waist again and leashed me forward into his embrace. I closed my eyes, leaning against his chest where I could feel his pulse vibrating against my cheek.

It was oddly satisfying, just lying there beneath the sheets feeling the steady beat of his heart.

"We should do this more often," he hummed after a while, opening one eye before he caught my lips with his own. His kisses were playful yet equally demanding, holding me captive beneath him as I kissed him back.  
"I think I'd like that," I replied, though a single question played over again in my mind.

"Well, I could always …" he started, but trailed off and I didn't need to read his thoughts to know what he was about to say.

"You might think that way now," I replied as I settled against his chest, "But as soon as this vacation ends you'll jet back off to Romania on your broomstick without so much of an owl and you can't say otherwise."

The Dragontamer let out a sigh, "Can't hide anything from you can I?" he grunted.

"Nope," I said, propping myself up beneath the sheets so that I could examine his expression, "So, tell me, when are you leaving?"  
"As soon as possible," he admitted, looking somewhat sheepish as he ran a hand through his orange hair, "Though if anybody could convince me otherwise, it'll be you."

"Yeah right," I snorted, bumping my shoulder against his.

He wrapped his arm around me, leashing me back towards him by the small of my waist and I complied, relaxing in the comfort of his embrace for a moment of silence.

"But really," I continued after a while, "I don't want you to ever give up on your dreams. Not for me. Not for anybody. Understood?"

He nodded, "Understood … so … are we good?"

"We're good," I hummed, "Now, help me up."

* * *

"The others are outside waiting, though I have to admit that you two sure took your time," Bill chimed as we came downstairs with Charlie's luggage in tow, "And you never did make it back to the apartment last night either Charlie …" He waggled his eyebrows at us and Charlie very quickly averted his gaze.

"Oh, that reminds me, an owl came for you not long ago and dropped this off," Bill added, handing me the letter.

Charlie frowned, "Is that a Hogwarts' letter?"

"Seems so," I replied, peeling off the wax seal before I read it carefully:

_Dear Bethany, _

_There is a matter of great importance that I believe you and your particular skill set will provide significant help. If you are not too busy, I would most appreciate it if you were to meet me in my office preferably before the start of the new school year. _

_Regards, _

_Albus Dumbledore _

_P.S: I do like a good Acid Pop now and again. _

"Acid Pops?" Charlie frowned as he read the letter from over my shoulder, "Who on earth actually likes Acid Pops?"

"The twins burnt a hole through Ron's tongue with one when they were little," Bill mentioned, "Twice, if I'm not mistaken."

"I always thought that Dumbledore was a bit odd, to be honest," Charlie added.

I elbowed him gently, "He doesn't actually like Acid Pops, it's the password to get past the gargoyle," I replied, "Still, I wonder what this 'matter of great importance' might be …"  
"I suppose he didn't specify what sort of help he needed," deduced Bill.

"Dumbledore? Be specific? If only," I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I pursed my lips. "Either way, I suppose I better go back up and pack a bag."

* * *

_Oh? What's that? You thought that they were going to end up together in this chapter? But there's still so much story to go! Hmm? You weren't expecting it to end like that? But pray who said that it was the end of anything? _

_So the Cursebreaker has been called back to Hogwarts. What will happen next? The only way to find out is to favourite and wait for the next chapter :)_

_\- S.G _


	10. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm not_ _that__ amazing. _

* * *

**Old Friends and Old Places**

* * *

Since Charlie wanted to get back to Romania and I needed to get to Hogwarts to see the Headmaster, it was decided that Charlie and I would go ahead of the Weasleys by Portkey.

"I suppose I'll see you at Gringotts then shall I?" Bill said.

I nodded, waving Charlie over as he came shouldering both his trunk and my briefcase.

"I can carry my own things you know," I drawled as I reached over him in an attempt to grab my suitcase.

"Nah-ah, not so fast, Cursebreaker," he replied, holding the bag just out of reach. "I wouldn't be a gentleman if I let you carry your own bags …"  
I rolled my eyes as Brina let out a meow.

"I know, Portkeys are the worst," I agreed, "But it won't take long, and hey, I bet they'll be plenty of mice to chase around the castle …"

Brina's green eyes seemed to light up as soon as I said 'mice' and began to purr again.

"I still don't think she likes me," murmured Charlie.

I was just about to say something before I noticed our Portkey begin to glow blue and we grabbed it in unison.

* * *

"Merlin, I swear I'll never get used to travelling by Portkey," groaned Charlie, stumbling as he helped me to my feet.

Sabrina hissed, jumping out of my arms to groom herself. The Portkey seemed to have messed up her fur.

"Wait a minute," I frowned, as I took in my surroundings, "This isn't Hogsmeade …"  
Instead of standing in the streets of the wizarding village just off Hogwarts we found ourselves standing in front of the reception desk at the Ministry of Magic in London.

Charlie rubbed his head, confused, "I didn't enchant the Portkey to take us to the Ministry," he said, "How on earth did we get so far off-course?"

"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," said an officer, suddenly appearing from behind me.

"What for?"

"Hey, what are you doing? Where are you taking her?" Charlie demanded, his voice uncharacteristically harsh as he tried to follow me only to be stopped by the person at the front desk.

"I suppose you're the ones who interfered with our Portkey?" I deduced as the man led me down a corridor towards a room that I immediately recognised as the one where ministry officials took criminals for questioning and gulped.

Merlin, what on earth had I gotten myself into this time?

* * *

"The cat will have to stay outside," said the officer.

He moved in as if he was about to try and pick Brina up but she hissed, black fur immediately standing on end as she bared her fangs.

"Um, yeah I wouldn't try picking her up if I were you," I replied, barely managing to mask a smile as Brina meowed and leapt onto my lap. "Brina can be very sweet but she does know how to use her claws …"

The Ministry official hesitated, a mental battle raging in his mind as he weighed up his odds against the black cat before he relented.

"As long as she doesn't interrupt the interrogation."

"So this _is_ an interrogation then," I said, stroking Brina as she lay on my lap. "No wonder Brina's fidgety. Can I ask what this is about?"  
The officer didn't respond as the door locked with a metallic click behind him.

"As a citizen under the British Ministry of Magic, do you vow to speak the truth and nothing but the truth?" he asked instead.

_Like I have a choice_, I thought to myself.

"I do," I said.

"You understand that everything you say in this room is being recorded?"  
I nodded.

"And if you do not comply, the Ministry has the right to use whatever means necessary to extract the truth?"  
"You mean that you'll use Veritaserum on me?"  
The officer didn't respond.

I let out a sigh, "Yes, I understand and agree to abide by Ministry protocol," I replied.

"Good," he nodded, a quill and notepad levitating in between us. Brina eyed the feathered quill as it danced around the page, looking as if it were some new toy …

"Brina, remember your manners," I said.

Sabrina mewed as if to say, "Aw, but it's so fluffy!" but obediently ducked her head and buried herself against my shirt.

The officer cleared his throat, "Now, what do you know of the whereabouts of Sirius Black?"

* * *

"Will you be answering any of my questions?"

_Maybe if you start asking reasonable ones,_ I thought to myself as I plastered on a smile.

"Of course," I said, "As you can see, I'm an open book."  
"In their testaments, your parents spoke of your … Particular _attachment _to Mr Black."

It was disgusting, hearing the lustful thoughts of the young inspector as he eyed me carefully.

"Of course they did," I mumbled, "Did they give their account of how Jacob and I looked up to him like an older brother that we never had, and when Jacob became as distant as my parents, Sirius Black was the only person I could talk to?"

"Well …"  
"No, you just assumed that I was so enamoured by my as you put it _attachment_ to a man that was more than twice my age," I finished, unable to hide the disgust in my voice, "I was ten when he went to Azkaban," I added, "My brother was missing; my parents' friends had just been murdered by _Voldemort_," (The man yelped slightly at the name), "Not to mention that your Daily Prophet was running my family's name through the dirt purely for the sake of getting a story. So you tell me, how in the name of Merlin would I possibly know anything about Sirius Black?"

"Your lack of cooperation will only make things more difficult," sighed the officer.

"Well I'm sorry for being a bit short-tempered, but I don't recall the Ministry running to help me when it came to saving my brother or Hogwarts for that matter," I replied coldly, "In fact, you were fine with just using him as your scrap goat while the people responsible walked free."

The officer ignored my response and continued to speak. "It is believed that your brother may have been working in You-Know-Who's inner circle along with Sirius Black …"

"And what proof do you have of that?" I asked, "Because I'm pretty sure that you guys have dragged my brother's memory through the dirt enough without adding wild, no-evidence based accusations to the list."

"So you don't know where Sirius Black could be?"

"No. I do not know where Sirius Black is," I repeated, waiting for a few moments before standing up. "Well, that was awfully nice. Can I go now?"

"And please don't … Try and ask me out," I supplied smoothly to his stupefied expression, "The answer will be a resounding no. Good day."

And on that rather charming note, I walked out of the interrogation room with my cat.

* * *

Charlie was still arguing with the person at the front desk, "What do you mean you bloody won't let me see her? You're the ones that diverted our Portkey in the first …" he trailed off, eyes widening when he spotted me coming over and I could see the relief wash over his face before he hurried towards me. Brina jumped out of my arms and took to curling herself around my leg as the Weasley came over.

"Bethany! There you are," Charlie flashed me a bright smile as he wrapped me in a tight embrace, pulling me so close that I could feel his heart hammering against my cheek.

"They wouldn't let me through," he murmured, his warm voice tickling my forehead as he spoke, "Apparently they had to keep you in for some sort of questioning …" he shook his head before he pulled away slightly if only to get a better look at me, "Blimey, your face is pale. Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied, "I just, wanna get out of here."  
Charlie frowned, concern still flittering through his doe brown eyes, but he agreed nonetheless.

"' Course," he nodded, "We should be able to Floo our way to Hogsmeade from here."

Brina mewed as she nudged at my foot.

"I know that you don't like travelling via fireplace but you have to admit that it's better than going by Portkey …"

* * *

"Why hello my lovelies, long time no see," Madam Rosmerta beamed, as we both stumbled out of her fireplace at the Three Broomsticks, "Thought you'd be coming in by Portkey. Don't normally have people travelling by Floo to my inn. I suppose you'll be wanting a Butterbeer each then?"  
"Not this time, I'm afraid," I replied as I dusted soot off my robes.

"That's a shame and who's this little fella?" Madam Rosmerta cooed as she spotted Brina grooming herself in the background.

"Madam Rosmerta, meet Sabrina, my cat," I replied.

"Oh isn't she lovely?" she grinned as Brina padded over to her and purred, "I normally don't allow animals in here but your cat is simply adorable that I think I'll let this one slide."  
"Thank you, Madam Rosmerta," I said.

"So why did you two come by Floo instead of Portkey?"

"Our Portkey was detained by the Ministry," Charlie explained as he shook the soot out of his orange hair.

"The Ministry?" Rosmerta blinked, shaking her head in disbelief, "First Dementors, now interfering with Portkeys? They've all gone _barmy_ they have … ever since Black's escape …" she trailed off, positively fuming before she recollected herself with a smile, "I guess you'll be wanting me to mind this little one while you guys go out?"  
"What do you say, Sabrina? Would you like to stay here where it's nice and warm while I go see the Headmaster?"  
"I'll magic you up a ball of yarn and some milk?" offered the bar lady.

Sabrina meowed, purring as she rubbed herself against Madam Rosmerta's leg.

"I suppose that's a yes," I smiled, "Remember you can always send her over if she becomes too much of a handful."  
"That's alright," the witch replied, "She can chase those pesky mice who've been chewing up my cutlery. You sure you lovelies couldn't do with a drink?"

"We're sure," I nodded, "But there is something else we could use."  
"Course," the bar lady grinned, "You two were my best employees when you were at Hogwarts. What'll it be?"

"Two broomsticks, please …"

* * *

"It's beautiful isn't it?" said Dumbledore.

"Pardon?"

"The sky."  
"Um … I suppose?" I said, following his gaze out of the tall arched windows. "Though I couldn't help but notice that the school has recently added some … _unorthodox_ security measures."  
"Ah yes, the Dementors." Dumbledore paused, his expression darkening ever so slightly before he spoke again. "I suppose that you've heard of Sirius Black's escape? It has of course been all the talk in the Daily Prophet."  
"That and I was questioned about it before I could get back into the country," I replied.

"As was I," said Dumbledore, "I must admit I did not see the point of using a Pensive to look for information that does not exist, though I suppose one should be grateful that the Ministry is taking a matter such as this so serious for once."

He spoke extremely casually as if it was just another everyday occurrence, but I could tell there was a bit of exasperation in his tone.

Dumbledore shook his head, "Alas I did not ask you here today to listen to me complain your ears off with my woes as Headmaster," he smiled before continuing, "I trust you recall your friend Mr Lupin?"

I blinked, "You know about …"

Dumbledore inclined his head, "I think that you'll find that very little goes on around Hogwarts that I am not already aware of."

His lightning blue gaze seemed to penetrate through my soul and I couldn't help but avert my gaze to my feet in the same manner as a student who had just been caught outside breaking curfew.

"Do not worry, I did not ask you here to talk about your past disregard for Hogwarts policies," he added reassuringly, "Though I am sure the tale would be quite interesting, the reason that I requested an audience with you is that I seem to have hit a bit of a snag in my problem of finding a new replacement Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. One that I am hoping you will be able to … untangle …"

* * *

The tumbledown cottage lay on the outskirts of Yorkshire, as isolated as it was semi-derelict. I gulped; neither Chiara nor I had seen the man for years, but not from a lack of trying. I walked up and knocked on the rotten door.

"Who is it?" The door swung inwards with a creak on its rusted hinges to reveal a middle-aged, sleep-deprived wizard with the distinct shabbiness of somebody who had been living a hand-to-mouth existence for some time now.

Remus Lupin blinked, "Bethany?"

"Hey, Moony."

* * *

"How'd you find me?"

"Well, it's nice to see you too," I drawled, pocketing my wand as I folded my arms across my chest.

"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting … come in, come in," he shook his head, running an awkward hand through his brown-grey hair as he stepped aside for me to enter before closing the door behind us.

It was nearly as rundown inside as it was out: a dilapidated suitcase lay on a makeshift bed of dirty blankets; complete with an old dresser that looked like it had once been a trough where an old oil lamp spluttered.

"How long have you been living like this exactly?" I asked.

The wizard shrugged.

"Few months … years maybe …" he picked absent-mindedly at a crumbled chip of stone from the wall.

I thought about the ton of money stashed away in my underground vault at Gringotts and the old family mansion that I had come to hate before averting my gaze. Why hadn't Mum stepped in to help? Why hadn't I? I'd helped out Chiara, hadn't I? My heart gave a guilty pang.

"You should've said something," I murmured, "If I'd known …"  
"I don't need your pity Bethany," he replied in a mild voice, "I never stay long in one place anyway …"

"But that's not the …"

There was another smart rap at the door, cutting my retort short as Remus went over and opened it again.

"Hello Remus," smiled Professor Dumbledore, "I see that the two of you have already been acquainted with one another."

Remus shot me a sharp glare.

"I … may or may not have told him where to find you," I admitted lowly.

"And it made my job that much easier," The Headmaster agreed as he stepped inside, conjuring a plush velvet lounge with a casual flick of his wand before he gestured for us to sit down, "Well? We might as well get comfortable."

I sat on the lounge; glad for the distraction as I sank into its cushioning.

I could feel Lupin's eyes still trained on me, accusingly before he let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Merlin, save me," he murmured.

* * *

"I … you … what?"

"Think about it Remus," I said.

"No," Lupin shook his head, "Absolutely not. It's mental, preposterous, it's…"

"Brilliant," I finished.

Remus didn't respond.

"Oh come on! You've always loved teaching and Hogwarts could do with a Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor who's actually_ competent_ for once … no offence …"

"None, taken," replied Dumbledore, "Hogwarts has had its fair share of unfortunate professors over the last two years; something that I would very much like to improve.

He was, of course, referring to Gilderoy Lockhart, who had been while trying to perform a memory wiping charm on some students only to have the wand backfire. And who could forget Quirrell, the man who had Voldemort latched to the back of his turbaned head?

"But I'm a werewolf! I've got the fangs and talons to prove it! Parents will ask questions!"

"Not if nobody knows," I replied.

"There are medical records stating that I was treated for werewolf bites at St Mungo's," Remus reminded.

"I was treated for Goblin Influenza once," Dumbledore informed us nostalgically, "It was remarkably uncomfortable, considering the fact that I only had a cold."

I raised an eyebrow, "My point being," the Headmaster continued, "That it would be unethical to discriminate against a talented wizard simply because of an unfortunate medical condition."

Remus spluttered, "But my medical condition could bite a student's head off!"

"Many of the books in the school library could bite a student's head off," I pointed out.

"Oh yes," Dumbledore agreed, "I also took it upon myself to _relieve_ one of the Healers of said medical records. You see, I was rather afraid that some prying parent with a pureblood lineage might nosy about and find some way to look at them. It is as I fear the world we live in, as sad as the case may be."

Remus spluttered, "What did you do? Hex the wizard in charge of documents at St. Mungo's?"

"I prefer the term 'charmed'," the elderly wizard replied lightly, "It evokes a much more serene, less exciting setting …"

"Chiara works at St. Mungo's and was able to smooth things over," I reassured him.

"And you will have a limitless supply of Wolfsbane Potion, courtesy of Professor Snape," Dumbledore added.

"I … Snape?"

"He's the Potions Master at Hogwarts," I explained.

"But … I …"

"You'll be a lot safer at Hogwarts."  
"And, I dare say, a lot more comfortable," The Headmaster added.

Remus hesitated; his brain visibly stewing over the information for what seemed to last an eternity before he finally spoke again.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yes," Dumbledore inclined his head.

Remus pursed his lips, looking as if he was about to protest before he let out another sigh, "… I'll … I'll think about it."

"Excellent," the professor smiled, "I expect to see you on September First."

"Wait a minute I didn't say yes! I only said …"

But Dumbledore had already disappeared out of the door.

"Yes!" I grinned, hugging the man with an excited squeal, "Oh I'm so glad that you accepted."

"You make it sound like you gave me a choice in the matter," he mumbled as he extracted himself from my embrace, "And I haven't accepted the job I..."

"Oh please, it was a gentle _nudge_ at most and you're going to accept the job. Now pack your stuff."

"What? Why?"  
"I'm taking you somewhere."

* * *

"How's Chiara?" Remus asked. I could tell by the tentative look in his eyes that it was a question that had been playing on his mind for a quite some time now.

"You would know if you'd bothered returning any of her letters. Or mine for that matter," I replied coolly, unable to hide the slight bitterness in my voice as I kicked a stray pebble off the footpath that led towards the small river cottage.

A shadow passed over his face as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I … I thought that you'd both be better off without me …"

"What?" I croaked.

He didn't respond, quickly averting his eyes from mine as silence fell over us.

"How could you think that?" I whispered, my voice shaking slightly as I spoke, "Remus?"

No response.

"Remus?"

I stopped walking, yanking him back by the tattered sleeve of his robes.

"Answer the question, Moony."

He winced at the nickname that he hadn't heard in so long before he finally met my gaze.

"I … because it's …" _what people do_, went the unsaid.

I sighed, taking out the old photograph of Hogwarts that I kept in the inside of my jacket.

Lupin's eyes widened as soon as he recognised it. "You …"

"Chiara gave it to me back during our second year the morning after her transformation," I explained, "She said that one of your old mates, Prongs had taken it, back when you were a student. She then told me that you gave it to her to remind her that, even after the darkest of nights …"

"… The sun will always rise again," he finished hoarsely.

"I've kept it close ever since," I smiled before I handed it to him, "Though, it seems that you could use it more than me."

"But I couldn't possibly …"  
"Take it," I replied, pressing it in the palm of his hand, "Chiara would want you to have it."

He blinked and it seemed, for a moment that the werewolf was lost for words, inhaling a breath of fresh air before eventually accepting it.

"Thank you."

* * *

"What is this place?" Lupin finally asked after taking in the scenery.

"An old family holiday home that I used to go to as a child," I replied as I skipped over the trickling stream. Everything was just like I remembered it:

The cottage … the stream … the garden …

I paused, running my hand along the edge of the small gate as different memories flittered through my mind. The time that Jacob and I were chasing each other around the garden, pretending to duel with the liquorice wands that he loved so much … or the family picnics that we would have in the forest clearing not far ahead.

I opened the door, gesturing for Remus to follow me inside. Stepping into the cottage was almost like stepping back into my childhood, and I couldn't help but smile as I took the place in with a sigh.

I lit the overhanging chandelier with my wand, illuminating our path as we stepped over the dusted floor into a living room, furnished exactly how I'd left it so many years ago: with the same inviting-looking couch and the antique cabinet where a black-and-white photograph of Jacob and I waved back from its gold embroidered frame. I couldn't have been much older than six in that photograph, giggling as I latched onto Jacob who was piggybacking me. I touched the frame, smiling as I watched us run around the garden, the six-year-old me in the photograph holding the collar of my brother's jacket as if it were some kind of reins.

"You look so happy in that photograph," murmured Lupin.

"That's because we were … so happy," I could feel tears beginning to form and forced them back with a deep breath before I continued.

"Seeing as you've practically already accepted the position, you'll soon be provided with a room of your own at Hogwarts, so, in the meantime, you can stay here."  
Lupin's eyes widened, "I … I can't do that."  
"'Course you can," I replied, "The place belongs to me now and nobody uses it anymore, not since …" _Jacob_, went the unsaid.

Another silence hung over us as I directed his trunk into the master bedroom.

"Oh, and before I forget, take this," I scooped out a bag of galleons before handing it to him.

Lupin blinked, "Oh, no, I could never accept that."

"Take it."

"But …"  
"No complaints," I replied, "I have more than enough gold in my family's vault and my mum wouldn't care two sickles about what I do with it."

"But I couldn't possibly …"  
"Oh for _Aprigga's sake_ just take the damn gold, Moony," I snapped, "And no, I will _not_ accept 'no' for an answer."

I forced the pouch of galleons into his hand and smiled, "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"I … I don't know what to say …" he murmured.

"You don't have to say anything," I replied, squeezing his shoulder, "We're mates aren't we? That's what friends do. They help each other." And with that, I disapparated out of the front door …

* * *

I took Remus to King's Cross Station by broom on September 1st, landing in an alleyway before I tugged him along with his battered suitcase in-tow.

"You do realise that the money was for you to buy decent robes and a suitcase," I joked as we made our way through the bustling street towards the grand concourse.

Remus didn't respond, tugging anxiously at the wrinkled collar of his robes while I searched for the gateway to Platform 9¾. I looked at the brick wall between platforms nine and ten, a sense of nostalgia washing over me as I looked at wizard and smiled.

"Shall we?"

"Maybe I …"  
"Come on!" I said, pulling him and his suitcase through before he had the chance to finish his sentence.

"See? That wasn't so bad," I said as we stepped onto the platform, "And you'll get a good seat if you get on the train early …"

Lupin gulped, face paling as soon as the Hogwarts Express came into view.

"Oh no, no, no you are _not_ disappearing on me now," I said gripping him by the forearm before he could back his way through the entrance gate.

"But … What if I slip up? What if something goes wrong and I reveal myself to a student …"  
"I'll come over and obliviate them," I shrugged.

"But … but …" at a loss for words, Lupin, no, _Professor_ Lupin rubbed his head wearily, "That's unethical," he replied at last.

"As is bigotry," I retorted, "Now go get your arse on that train before I hex you."

"I … fine."

I watched him board the train and gave him a big thumbs-up, feeling rather sappy and oversentimental as steam began to rise from the platform.

_This year would be a good year,_ I thought.

* * *

_So our MC has managed to recruit Remus but will things go as smoothly when it comes to going back home?_

_Find out in the next chapter!  
\- S.G. _


	11. Chapter 10

Author's Note: For those who have been playing Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery you would understand why I had no choice but to change these chapters. I won't come out and say why for those who haven't played the most recent chapters (I don't want to spoil it for you.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

* * *

**The Black and the Brown**

* * *

After seeing Remus off I decided to take a stroll down Diagon Alley where an owl swooped over me and dropped a letter in my outstretched hand.

It wasn't much of a letter, to be honest; just a scrappy piece of torn parchment with a lopsided cursive that I recognised almost instantly.

_Wotcher! I can see you. Come to the Leaky Cauldron – drinks on me_

I chuckled, tucking the note into my pocket before I shouldered my way into the nearby tavern, craning my neck as I scanned the crowded pub for a familiar face …

"Wotcher, Bethany! Over here!" Tonks waved me over to an empty table at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Eek! I can't believe you're finally back!" she squealed as she squeezed me in a bone-crushing embrace. "I already ordered the Butterbeers, my treat of course."

I could tell that she was almost bursting with excitement as the plump waitress handed us two tankards and we sat down. "So … how was it?"

"How was what?"

"Oh, you know, Egypt, Cairo … the lot!"

"It was pretty cool," I grinned, "But I rather hear about what you've been up to."

"Oh, nothing much," Tonks shrugged nonchalantly. "Taking down dark wizards, gathering informants, paperwork ... you know ... the usual."

"Is that what you're doing here?" I presumed.

Tonks nodded, "I'm waiting to see one of my informants down Knockturn Alley, so I figured, why stay waiting around a dingy old alleyway when I can come to the Leaky Cauldron instead?"

"Do you need some back-up?" I asked, "You know, for old time's sake."

Tonks smiled, "Thanks for offering, but I reckon my informant would piss his pants if he saw a Cursebreaker like you coming towards him ..."

I laughed, "Well, I suppose I haven't made anybody wet themselves recently ..."

Tonks snorted slightly into her Butterbeer, "You know, it's times like this where I reckon you'd make a brilliant Auror ..."

"That's what Moody implied, in his own special way," I mused lightly, "But I think I'll stick with breaking Curses thanks."

"You'll let me know if you change your mind though, right?" she asked, "Though, I bet you prefer Cursebreaking because you get to spend extra time with a certain Weasley ..."

I blinked, spluttering on my Butterbeer, "How did you know about that?"

"An auror's got her way," she smiled enigmatically as she took another drag of Butterbeer. "I mean I don't suppose I can blame you. I hear that Bill's got the stature of a Greek _god _..."

I raised an eyebrow, "And pray how would you know that?" I teased.

Tonks blushed ever so slightly to the roots of her Bubblegum pink hair, "I ... have my sources."

"Uh-huh ..."  
"I'm being serious!" she replied, batting my shoulder as I sniggered. "I'm a very accomplished Auror, you know ..."

I grinned, enjoying our banter as we each took turns taking sips of Butterbeer.

"I missed this," I said after a while.  
"Missed what?"  
"_This_," I repeated, gesturing between us, "It's been ages since we got to have a proper catch-up."

"Well, maybe if somebody weren't too busy gallivanting around in Egypt ..."

I rolled my eyes, "You know what I mean, Tonks."

"Yeah, I do," replied Tonks, flashing me a toothy smile as she ran a hand through her short pixie cut. "Speaking of gallivanting, how was it spending a month with the Weasleys?"

* * *

"YOU _KISSED_?"

Tonks' yelp rang throughout the bar, causing all of the other customers to look in the direction of our booth.

"Shh! Not so loud," I hissed, my cheeks burning crimson as I ducked my head.

"Oops, sorry," she said, though I could tell by her facial expression that she didn't really mean it. "But that's great and it's about bloody time ..."

If I hadn't already been blushing, I was definitely doing so now.

"Yeah, yeah, don't make a fuss about it," I drawled as I took another sip of Butterbeer.

"At least tell me you had sex …"

I choked, spluttering on my drink when she said that.

"_Tonks_!" I glared, puffing out my cheeks with false-mortification, "Not that it's any of your business … but no I did not _sleep_ with him."

"Well you've kissed and probably seen him naked," drawled the witch, "You guys are practically _married_!"

"We are _not_ …"

I rolled my eyes.

"… Ooh, I can't _wait_ to tell Penny! She'll be _so_ happy …" she continued, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Oh, for Aprigga's sake please don't," I groaned, "The last thing that I need is for my lack of a sex-life to be broadcasted all over the WWN …"

"_Fine_," relented Tonks, "But only if you tell me absolutely everything …"

* * *

I apparated into Godric's Hollow, the pitter-pattering of rain resonating against my _Impervius_ charm and the click-clack of my heels against the wet cobblestone being the only sounds in the otherwise deserted street.

I took a breath, bouquet of flowers in hand as I made my way towards the church at the centre of the sleepy town before I paused.

Halfway across the square stood a war memorial. As I passed it had transformed. Instead of an obelisk covered in names, there was a statue of three people: a man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms. I drew closer, gazing up into their stone faces as if to commit their expressions to memory.

"It's been so long since I came, I'd almost forgotten what you looked like," I murmured to the statue as I traced the stone pedestal on which they stood on before I turned again towards the church.

As I crossed the road, I glanced over my shoulder; the statue had once again turned back into the obelisk war memorial.

It had been ages since I last visited this place.

There was a kissing gate at the entrance to the graveyard and I momentarily release my invisible umbrella to tap the lock with my wand before the gate creaked open. I slipped through the gap, about to recast the _Impervius_ charm but I was already drenched.  
"Oh well," I shrugged as I tucked my wand back into the pocket of my jeans, keeping to the shadows beneath the outskirts of the church's grand windows.

Behind the church, row upon row of tombstones protruded from the wet earth that speckled with dazzling red, gold and green whenever the reflections from the stained glass hit small puddles of water.

It didn't take me long to locate their gravestone, and I moved towards it feeling as if something heavy was pressing on my chest. It was the same sensation that I had had right after Jacob had died, a grief that actually weighed on my heart and lungs.

It wasn't like I was a complete stranger to death though, I silently mused to myself somewhat self-deprecatingly.

The marble headstone seemed to shine in the dark as I approached, making it easy to read.

_James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981_

_Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981_

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death_

The rain had started to die down to a gentle sprinkle now as I gulped, bending down to place the flowers at the headstone before I saw something rustling in the corner of my eye and I turned, suddenly alert with my wand in hand. I could have sworn that I saw the briefest glimpse of someone or some_thing_ staring back at me but it had disappeared. I paused, peering through the shadows in the direction that I had heard the sound coming from but saw nothing.

"I wonder," I pursed my lips.

He wouldn't really be so stupid as to come here … would he?

I shook my head, quickly pulling up my cowl before I stepped back into the shadows of the church's spires and disapparated.

* * *

"I figured that it would only be a matter of time before you came looking for me, but sneaking into Gringotts of all places? _Honestly_ Sirius," I shook my head as the man in question stepped out of the shadows.

"I'm guessing that it was also you watching me in Godric's Hollow," I deduced before I turned to face him.

Azkaban had clearly taken its toll on the wizard: his black hair hung in long matted clumps over his dull eyes and the colour of his skin almost wax-like as he ducked his head.

"I understand if you want to turn me in …"

"I'm not going to turn you in."

He blinked, "You're not?"

I sighed, "You really don't have any faith in me do you?"

"No … I just … I dunno," he grunted as he ran a painfully skeletal hand through his hair, "I thought that you'd be angrier…"

"Oh I _am_ angry," I replied, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to send you off to the Dementors to get your bloody soul sucked out, does it? You're lucky that nobody else is in this late, otherwise, there'd be questions …"

I gestured for him to sit, and he complied as I conjured a plate of sandwiches and a cup of pumpkin juice.

He wolfed it down, tearing into the bread with his teeth as he devoured each sandwich and drained the glass of juice to the very last drop. He let out a content sigh as he leaned backwards; shutting his eyes while his tongue ran over his lips as if to try to savour the sensation of having real food before he slowly opened them again.

"You're um, looking well, …" he mumbled.

"And you smell like a wet dog," I remarked as I siphoned off most of the grime from his tattered robes with a flick of my wand.

He barked out a short laugh, "Still brutally honest as always I see."

"Of course."

We sat in a moment's silence before he eventually spoke again.

"I didn't do it, you know," he croaked.

"I know."

He paused, seemingly taken back by my response as tears began to fill his already bloodshot eyes.

"You … you believe me?" he stammered; the disbelief on his face perhaps being the first genuine show of emotion so far, "After all this time?"

I nodded.

"I … thank you," he gulped, "You don't know how much it means to me to hear somebody … to hear you … say that."

He wiped his face on the grotty sleeve of his robes before he stood up to leave.  
I raised an eyebrow, "Wait a minute, Sirius. Uh … you do realise that there are Dementors still patrolling the streets don't you?"

"Not to worry," he replied, briefly returning to his former mischievous self beneath his skeletal frame, "I'll be careful."

I snorted, "You? Careful?" I rolled my eyes, "I don't think that you understand the definition of 'being careful', Sirius Black."

The man's grin only widened, making him look almost ghostly in the moonlight as he climbed to the ledge of the arched window.

"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve," he winked, transforming into a dog before he leapt off the bannister.

I shook my head, "He's going to get himself killed, isn't he?"

Pepper crooned softly in the background as I stared out the window.

* * *

"I didn't realise that you were an Animagus," Sirius hummed conversationally as I padded over from behind a nearby bush before transforming back from my form as a brown dog into my usual self.

"What can I say?" I quipped back, "I suppose I take after you."

Sirius grinned, flashing me what was once a clean, handsome smile.

"You've been tracking me, then?" Black guessed.

"From the moment that you slipped out of Gringotts," I nodded, crossing my arms as I pursed my lips, "Where, I _specifically_ remember somebody promising me that they'd be _careful_ …"

"I _am_ being careful," replied the wizard, stretching his arms out wide as he gestured to the surrounding forest, "See? Haven't been caught yet, have I?"

"No thanks to you," I retorted, "If it hadn't been for my enchantments, you'd be a human husk by now."

"Ah, so that was _your_ Patronus that I saw last night," he said, "Quite an impressive form it took, a tiger if I'm not mistaken?"  
"Cheetah actually," I corrected him, "But you still haven't answered my question," I said as I rounded back towards the wizard. "First Godric's Hollow, and now Hogwarts? Just what exactly are you up to, Sirius?"

"He's here," he whispered, his expression darkening considerably as he averted his gaze back towards the castle in the near distance. "I can feel it."

"Of course, Harry's here," I replied impatiently, "But he's safe as long as you keep your distance – _and_, he's gone again, isn't he?"

I sighed, inwardly groaning as I shook my head.

"I swear to _Merlin_, that man will be the end of me."

* * *

After losing Sirius' scent, I stopped by at Honeydukes to restock on chocolate before deciding to visit Hagrid who I found at the Three Broomsticks, drowning his sorrows with Butterbeer.

"How's Buckbeak going?" I asked gently only for Hagrid's sobs to intensify; his face glazed with tears dribbling down into his wet, tangled beard as several different patrons cast us rather disgruntled looks from their booths.

"Read it," he sniffled, shoving a piece of parchment towards me with another sob.

_Dear Mr Hagrid,_

_Further to our inquiry into the attack by a Hippogriff on a student in your class, we have accepted the assurances of Professor Dumbledore that you bear no responsibility for the regrettable incident. _

_However, we must register our concern about the Hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold the official complaint of Mr Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will, therefore, be taken to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. The hearing will take place on April 20__th__ and we ask you to present yourself and your Hippogriff at the Committee's offices in London on that date. In the meantime, the Hippogriff should be kept tethered and isolated. _

_Yours in fellowship …_

The letter ended with a list of signatures from the school governors.

I put the letter down before I patted Hagrid's forearm gently (because I couldn't reach his shoulder), "I'm sure we'll work something out," I reassured him as soothingly as possible, "Liz Tuttle works with all sorts of Magical Creatures and Charlie, Barnaby and I would be more than happy to vouch for Buckbeak."

Hagrid let out another moan/whimper as he pulled out an old hanky and blew his nose before wiping his swollen cheeks, "Yeh don' understand Bethany," he choked on a sob, "That Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures have it in fer interesting creatures like Beaky!"

He took another shaky gulp of Butterbeer, sloshing it all over himself as he set it down clumsily.

I drew my wand, vanishing the spilt liquid with a casual flick before I continued, "Don't worry Hagrid, we're not going to let them take Buckbeak away."

"But Lucius Malfoy's probably got the 'hole committee eatin' out o' his pocket …"

"Oh to hell with him," I retorted, "We have expertise, passion and justice on our side. Heck; Lucius Malfoy and his golden pockets won't even know what hit him."

That seemed to cheer up the gatekeeper a bit as I accompanied him out of the Three Broomsticks with the help of Madam Rosmerta, feeling nothing but raw anger and determination.

Lucius Malfoy was going to regret ever messing with us.

* * *

I froze, whipping out a Patronus charm that scattered the Dementors with a burst of silver light before I rushed to Hagrid's side again.

"Are you alright?" my teeth chattered as he struggled to sit up, "Merlin, you're dead pale. Here, have some of this."

I broke off a large chunk of Honeydukes' chocolate and forced it into his trembling hands before I bit off another piece for myself.

"Gotta walk past 'em ev'ry time I wanna go get a drink," Hagrid shuddered as I tried to help him to his feet, "It's 'orrible; like bein' in Azkaban all o'er again."

I paused. Hagrid never talked about his time in Azkaban with anyone: it was somewhat of a tabooed subject for him.

"It was really bad, huh?" I spoke tentatively as I let him inside.

The giant man nodded shakily.

"Yeh've no idea," he whimpered as he finished his chunk of chocolate with a gulp, "Never bin anywhere like it. Kep' goin' through 'horrible things in me head: the day me Dad died, the day I was expelled from Hogwarts … the day I lost Norbert … Though' I was goin' mad I did; made me wish that I'd jus' die in me sleep, and now I'm gonna lose Buckbeak too."

His eyes filled with tears again as Fang whined at his heels, slumping at the wooden table looking lost and broken.

"We're not going to let that happen Hagrid," I replied forcibly.

Hagrid rose from the table, gazing out of the window to where Buckbeak was snoozing amongst the frozen pumpkins.  
"Thought o' just letting 'im go," he said quietly, "But how d' yeh explain ter a Hippogriff that he's gotta go inter hidin'? And … and I'm too scared teh break the law …" the gatekeeper's voice wavered again as if the thought was too terrifying to even contemplate and Fang let out another whine before Hagrid finally turned to face me.

"I don' ever want ter go back teh Azkaban, Bethany, never again."

I squeezed his giant hand in mine as he continued to cry.

* * *

It took me a while to calm Hagrid down. He insisted on bringing in Buckbeak, ("Can't leave him tied up in the snow!") so, after making Hagrid a hot pot of tea I went outside and brought the Hippogriff into the hut where he rested on the bed, content with gnawing on a dead ferret that he'd found.

I had never really fully seen eye-to-eye with Hagrid's affliction for dangerous creatures (Acromantulas and Manticores for one) but Buckbeak did indeed seem harmless in comparison. I ran my fingers through his soft feathers as he clucked: remembering what he'd been like when he'd first hatched years ago. Hagrid had fallen asleep in his armchair, his tea held limply in one hand as Fang lapped the liquid that sloshed on the floor. The letter lay abandoned on the table; stained with Butterbeer and mucus.

"It'll be alright," I murmured, unsure of whether I was saying it to the Hippogriff, Hagrid or myself.

I stood up, conjuring a blanket to cover over the giant before I opened the door and left.

It was already long past midnight and I still had work to do.

* * *

"You're late," Mum noted disapprovingly from the lounge as I stepped out of the fireplace into the living room.  
"Shoes off please, Miss," our house elf Swetty tweeted, as towels appeared from thin air, patting me clean.

"Thank you, Swetty," I smiled, choosing to ignore my mother's pointed glare as I vanished the soot from my clothes.

"Miss is so very kind to Swetty," The house elf's large eyes seemed to swim with gratitude, "Swetty does not think anyone is thanking Swetty for …"

"Leave us." Mum's voice cut through the room like metal over a glass and I winced.

"Of course, Mistress," Swetty bowed lowly before disapparating with another popping crack.

"You know that there is something called 'please'," I said coolly.

"You're late," she repeated, speaking as if I had not.

"I am," I agreed.

"Where were you? Not doing that _thing_ again I hope?"

"That thing is called my career, Mum, and no, I was out helping a friend."

"Who?"

"What does it matter?"

The witch let out a long sigh, "Honestly sweetheart, I'm trying to reach out here," her gaze seemed to implore my own as I averted my eyes to the floor.

_That'd be a new one_, I thought to myself.

"… You've only been home for a few weeks yet you've barely said a word to me …"

"I'm sorry," I apologised through gritted teeth, "I've just been … busy."

"If it's about those friends of yours …"

"Those friends have been there for me in ways that nobody else was," I retorted hotly before I sucked in a deep breath, "Look, I'm sorry that I was late but something important came up …"

My Mum waited for me to elaborate but I didn't.

"If this is about …"

"It's not about Jacob," I finished, watching her jump at the sound of his name.

I shook my head, "Anyway, I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight," I said, giving her a quick hug before I shot upstairs to my room and closed the door behind me.

My room hadn't changed from how I'd left it: Perhaps a bit cleaner but virtually the same as it had always been. I shivered slightly as the candles lit themselves above me.

"Hey, Swetty?"

The house-elf appeared immediately, "Yes Miss?"

"Has she mentioned anything about Jacob recently?"

"No Miss: not since Master Jacob's funeral, Miss," Swetty replied.

I sighed, "And the belongings?"

"Still hidden safe from Mistress' knowledge as Miss is requested."

"Thanks, Swetty," I nodded; relieved that at least one thing remained of my brother that my parents hadn't found and thrown out yet, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

The house-elf grinned a toothy smile, "Shall Swetty bring up some dinner for Miss? Maybe a glass of pumpkin juice or warm sweetened milk like Miss used to have as a child?"

I shook my head, "That's sweet of you but I'm not hungry at the moment."

"Well, just call Swetty if Miss is changing her mind," she disappeared with another crack as I got changed before I pulled out the old book from my purse and began to read.

Sabrina meowed from my bed.

"You're right 'Brina," I nodded, "We've got a long night ahead of us."

* * *

_That was a long chapter, wasn't it? _

_In my version of Hogwarts Mystery, the MC and her family were actually a lot closer to the Potters than initially suggested. This is highlighted by one of the choices in Year Three where you can choose to say that it's because of what happened to Lily and James Potter that has your character so afraid when Tulip asks Jacob's sibling why their boggart is Voldemort. _

_I hope you enjoyed this! Don't forget to follow and review _

_(Reviews are like Butterbeer. Not the ridiculously sickening excuse for Butterbeer that they sell at the Harry Potter Theme park. I'm talking about the good stuff ...)_

_XOX_

_Sword Gold._


	12. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the Hogwarts Mystery characters_

* * *

**A Call to Arms**

* * *

"Morning Mum, Swetty," I smiled down at the house-elf who positively blushed right up to her bat-like ears as she hurried forward to place a pan of freshly fried eggs on the kitchen table before levitating a kettle from the stove.

"Good morning, Miss!" squeaked the elf cheerfully, "Would miss like a cup of freshly brewed tea? Or perhaps miss rather some coffee ground this morning …"  
"Some tea would be lovely, thanks," I replied, watching as the teapot poured itself out into a delicate china cup while I sealed the letters that I wrote late last night in four separate envelopes.  
"I trust that you slept well?" Mum asked, sipping her coffee whilst her eyes skimmed over the latest articles in the Daily Prophet.

"Well, if I'm, to be honest, I did wake up once or twice," I admitted, magically stirring my tea as I hastily addressed the letters to their recipients with a nearby quill that came floating in from the countertop.

"Really?" Mum raised her eyebrow, "Any particular reason?"

"Nothing much," I shrugged, averting my gaze as Swetty gave me an extra serving of hash browns.

Mum glanced at me from her paper for the briefest of moments before she turned her attention back to her food.

"I still don't understand why you brought a feral cat home with you," she said instead. "You do remember that I'm allergic …"

"There's still some leftover tonic that Penny made, and Sabrina's not a feral cat," I retorted, smiling as my black cat curled herself around my chair before conjuring up a plate of milk for her to drink.

"Well, whatever she is, make sure she doesn't leave any messes around," Mum replied, wrinkling her nose slightly. "And don't go bringing any more creatures into the house, understood?"  
"That was one time," I pointed out, "And the Bowtruckle had a broken limb …"

Mum glared at me.

"… Fine. No more creatures," I relented.

I called my owl over who looked peculiarly at my three letters.

"I'll buy you some more of your favourite owl treats when I get the chance to," I promised.

Pepper hooted, grasping the letters in her talons before she took off out of the open window.

Mum smiled, seemingly satisfied with that response before she turned back to her newspaper, "I hope you're not planning on going to Hogsmeade today. It says here that Black has been spotted not far from there," she said conversationally before she eyed me, "He hasn't … tried to make contact with you has he?"  
I spluttered on my tea, "What? 'Course not," I replied quickly.

An awkward silence hung thick in the air as my mum examined my expression before sighing.

"Well you let me know if he does," she replied, "The Ministry should catch up with him soon enough."

I nodded, suddenly glum as I picked at the rest of my food.

"Why are you sending so many letters?"  
"Uh," I racked my brain for an answer, pretending not to understand her question until she repeated it. "Oh, you mean the letters that I just sent?" I smiled, "Just seeing how some friends are doing … like Tonks and Penny …"

I downed the rest of my tea before I got up, "Speaking of which, I should get going …"

Mum frowned, "Don't you have a day off today?"  
I blinked, "Oh, I do, but you know me, busy, busy, busy," I let out an awkward laugh as I rubbed the back of my neck, "I'll see you later!"

* * *

I rounded the corner until I came to the bare mannequin standing in the window display of an abandoned redbrick department store called Purge and Dowse, Ltd.  
"St Mungo's to see healer Chiara Lobosca, please."

The seemingly inanimate dummy stared at me before inclining its plastic head, allowing me to pass through the glass as if it simply did not exist. It wasn't long until I stepped out of the portal into the crowded reception area where rows of witches and wizards sat upon rickety wooden chairs, some looking perfectly normal and perusing out-of-date copies of Witch Weekly, others sporting gruesome disfigurements such as elephant trunks or extra hands sticking out of their chests. The entire hospital seemed to be buzzing with life, scarcely less quiet than the street outside as many of the patients were making peculiar noises.

It wasn't long before I distinguished her from the other lime-green robed healers that took notes on levitating clipboards.

Chiara beamed, quickly noticing me before she hurried in my direction.

"I hope you're not here because you've managed to get yourself injured again," she joked.

"Funnily enough, no," I replied.

"Well, that's a relief," she smiled as she gestured for me to follow her down the bustling corridor.

"I suppose this isn't a social visit either?"

"Not entirely," I admitted, "I was wondering whether I could take a look at the medical reports that you were telling me about …"

"Which ones?"  
"The one that has to do with the Hippogriff and …"  
"The Malfoy kid, right," she nodded. "Penny said that you might be coming over some time, but she never mentioned when …"

"I can always come back later if you're busy …" I replied quickly.

"No, no, it's fine," Chiara replied, "I've got a few more rounds to do but we can always walk and chat."

Upon entering the ward I found that it was almost as full as the reception area was. Chiara and I weaved our way passed different patients and self-pushing trolleys.

"I heard from the great vine that you managed to convince Lupin to join the teachers' faculty at Hogwarts," she said after a while and I immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry I didn't bring it up sooner," I mumbled, dropping my head as I apologised, "I would've waited for you to join me but Dumbledore insisted that we leave straight away and …"

"Don't worry about it," Chiara smiled earnestly, "I'm just glad that you found him. Speaking of which, where was he?"  
"Yorkshire, believe it or not," I replied.

"Huh, never thought to look for him there …" the healer hummed mainly to herself as I followed her on her rounds. The ward was particularly busy today with injuries ranging from minor as Bowtruckle scratches to wounds as serious as the toxic bite from a three-headed Runespoor. Healers hurried from patient-to-patient under Chiara's orders, providing bandages and potions.

"Yeah, well, I don't think I would've been able to find him if it weren't for my er … abilities as a you-know-what."

"Yes, I suppose those certain abilities would definitely come in handy when looking for a person who didn't want to be found," she presumed.

"He misses you," I whispered. "Remus does, I mean."

She paused slightly, "Do you reckon that he read any of my letters?"  
"I … I didn't think to ask, to be honest," I admitted, "But he did ask me how you'd been going …"

Chiara didn't respond immediately as she began tending to another patient.

"The reports that you asked for about the Malfoy boy are on my desk," she said instead, "You're more than welcome to use them for the hearing. Penny should be in her laboratory with hers as well." She cast a quick _Ferula _charm on the patient's leg before going to treat another. "Is there anything else you'll be needing?"

"No, that should be more than enough, thank you," I replied, turning to leave before I stopped, "Oh and Chiara?"  
"Yes?"  
"Don't forget to come and visit, I think Borf misses you too."

* * *

"Bethany!" grinned Penny as she stepped her way through her laboratory towards me, "Come in; come in! Watch the cauldrons though," she added.

"Penny, hey!" I smiled as she squeezed me in a tight embrace.

"Urgh, it's been _ages_ since I last saw you," said the witch, "How have you been?"

"I've been good," I replied, "Well, considering the whole Buckbeak situation …"

"Yeah, I remember you telling me about it in your letter," frowned Penny, "Ooh! Speaking of letters, how are things with you and Charlie?"  
I felt my cheeks burn bright pink at the mention of his name, "W-what are you on about?" I stammered.

Penny rolled her eyes, "Oh please, you didn't think that Tonks wouldn't fill me in on the whole love flirtation-ship thing?" she retorted as she gestured for me to take a seat on one of her stools. "I do know most of the gossip."

"Word sure gets around fast amongst our small group of friends," I sighed, groaning inwardly as I swore to tape my best friend's mouth shut after this.

"Tonks is just excited for you, that's all," replied Penny as she went back to stirring one of the many cauldrons that were all currently bubbling away on an open flame. "I mean, what happened in Cairo was a big step for the two of you …"

"The two of us? It was just a _kiss_ for Aprigga's sake!"

Penny raised an eyebrow, "Not just a kiss from what I heard …"

"Tonks really does talk too much," I muttered as I ran my fingers through my hair, "It really isn't that big a deal …"

"But it _is_!" she exclaimed as she adding an extra eye of Newt to the second cauldron while leaving the others to simmer down. "This is Charlie Weasley we're talking about. As in your long-time _crush_, Charlie Weasley."

"How did you know about that?"

Penny snorted, "Anybody who has eyes could tell. In fact, the only person who probably wasn't aware of it was Charlie himself. You know, Andre and I even made a bet in our seventh year that the two of you were bound to get together at some point or rather." She smiled, "I'll let him know that he owes me a Giggle-water …"

"No," I replied, "no, you _cannot_ tell Andre about the kiss! He'll … he'll tease me and I'll never hear the end of it."

"Fine, I suppose I can live without the free Giggle-water," Penny sighed. "Besides, Andre can be so dramatic at times. In fact, he'd probably start designing your future wedding dress …"

"That's not funny."

"Oh, come on, it is a _little_ bit funny …"

I rolled my eyes, "And on that note, I should probably get going …"  
"Aw, don't be mad; you know I was only teasing you, …" pouted Penny.

"I know," I said, smiling slightly despite myself. "Can I expect to see you at the Hearing?"  
"You bet," she grinned, "Should I forward the medical reports onto you via Gringotts?"  
"Either that or you can owl them straight to Hagrid," I agreed, "But remember to use the usual enchantments and keep it under wrap: the last thing we need is for somebody like Malfoy to weasel his way into this."

"You got it," nodded Penny, "Will you be going straight back to your house from here?"  
"Nah, I've still got one more errand to run," I replied.

* * *

I apparated to the address that she'd left in her last letter, only to find that there was no house or breath of civilisation in sight, either wizarding or muggle alike.

"That's odd," I frowned, glancing back at the parchment in my hand, "I could've sworn that I saw …"

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the booming _roar_ of a giant Chimera and I instinctively drew my wand; a stunning spell on the tip of my tongue …

"Rainbow, what have I told you about growling at people?"

I blinked, not quite sure what I was seeing as 'Rainbow' the Chimera let out a belated whine before trudging away with her scaled tail drooping between her legs and out emerged a witch, covered from head-to-toe in what looked like mud and leaf litter.

"Well, if it isn't one of my favourite humans," beamed the Magizoologist.

"Liz 'Lizard' Tuttle," I grinned, "_Merlin_, am I glad to see you."

* * *

"Sorry about Rainbow," Liz apologised as we made our way through the dense forest, "I hope she didn't scare you too much …"  
"Not going to lie, my heart's still pounding," I admitted, "But Rainbow seems to really like you at least."

"She is very affectionate for a Chimera," nodded the Magizoologist, "Don't worry. Once she grows used to your scent she acts like a big pussycat. Don't you Rainbow?"

Liz removed a raw steak from her jacket and threw it for the Chimera to catch.

"I thought you didn't like to carry raw meat around with you?" I frowned, as Rainbow tore into the slab like a tasty morsel.

"You're right, of course," Liz smiled, a slight skip in her step as she spoke, "As a vegetarian, I despise carrying meat, but I'm still in the process of weaning her off animal products." She said this conversationally as if there was nothing irregular in trying to make a vegetarian out of a carnivorous creature.

I raised an eyebrow, "You're trying to ween a carnivore off meat?"

"Oh yes," she replied, "It's been going relatively well, though I do have to give her a meaty treat once in a while so she doesn't try to go out hunting for muggles."

I gulped, "And has she? Hunted a muggle, I mean?"

We stepped across a small stream, leaving Rainbow to enjoy her steak in peace.

"Once or twice," shrugged the Magizoologist as she skipped over each rock towards the bank. "But nothing that a quick _Episkey _and a well-placed memory charm couldn't solve. I enchanted most of the forest so that muggles can never quite find their way through." She added, "Tulip and Dennis helped with the magic of course. She's always had a knack for illegal disillusionment charms. Something about her parents working for Magical Law Enforcement …" she shook her head, "Anyway, the furthest a muggle has ever gotten is probably this stream before they quickly turn back. Many now believe that these parts of the woods are haunted," she giggled before she glanced down at something wiggling in one of her pockets.

"Twigbit please," she reprimanded, "Now isn't the time to be rude, we have guests."

The Bowtruckle climbed up to her shoulder, looking at me rather reproachfully before letting out a short chirp.

"Twigbit!" She scowled, "What have a told you about using that sort of language?" The Magizoologist shook her head before she returned the Bowtruckle to her pocket, "Sorry about that, Twigbit is rather … possessive."

"Kind of reminds me of Newt Jr. He could be very loving but there were times when he wouldn't let anybody go near me or his Wiggentree." I smiled fondly at the memory.

"She's still recovering from a cold, so she's a more grumpy than usual." She took out her wand before she cast a revealing charm. "We're almost there, see?"  
I followed her line of sight towards a canopy of irregularly large treetops where I could just make out the outlines of what looked like a house high up in the mahogany branches.

"Is that … where you live?"  
"Brilliant, isn't it? Badeea gave me the idea after I saw some of her sketches of a 'muggle treehouse'. Apparently muggle parents would make these wooden contraptions up in the trees of their backyards for their children to play in." She explained as the clearing magically parted for us. "They looked so cute, almost like a Fwooper's nest hidden amongst the leaves that Badeea agreed to design one for me."

"A home in the trees."  
"Precisely," she nodded, "I hope you're a good climber."

* * *

"Your Animagus form is very impressive," Liz said, admiring my form as I reached the front door before shifting back to my regular self.

"I don't think I would've been able to keep up with you otherwise," I replied, using my fingers to brush stray leaves from my hair.

"Well, either way, I think you make quite a cute pup," she said as she parted the curtains.

"This is brilliant," I breathed as I looked around, taking in my surroundings with a smile.

It was undeniably homey, almost as if I'd stepped into a different world.

The inside furnishings of her treehouse home wasn't unlike Hagrid's – there was a simple wooden framed bed tucked away in the corner, beside a desk with shelves stacked high to the ceiling with various books including a well-worn copy of Newt Scamander's _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_.

A cauldron bubbled over crackling tinder in a small stone fireplace and a speckled kneazle meowed from an old patched sofa, leaning up against a transparent wall that seemed to display a large underwater menagerie of aquatic creatures, with grindylows lurking in beds of swirling kelp.

The speckled kneazle meowed at us from the sofa and Liz went over to stroke its head, a hint of a blush dusting over her cheeks.

"We don't have much as far as riches go," she said, giving her kneazle as scratch behind the ear, "And it's not nearly as grand as many of the other wizarding households …"  
"No, no. As I said before, I think it's brilliant," I responded, "It's very … you."

She cocked her head to the side as if she were really getting a look at me for the first time before she broke out into a soft smile.

"Thank you," she said, gesturing for me to sit on the sofa beside her, "Now could you please elaborate more on this 'Hippogriff' situation that you wrote about in your letters?"

* * *

_It was nice to write about the gang again. If you play the game, you would know that Chiara wants to become a Healer so she is, and Penny would obviously be a famous Potioneer. __Because of her love for magical creatures, I thought that Liz would make an amazing Magizoologist, living in the trees like a modern-day Tarzan ... _

_Don't forget to comment and subscribe. _

_Yours truly,_

_Sword Gold. _


	13. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters. I only play around with them (Merlin, that sounded better in my head) _

* * *

**Buckbeak's Hearing**

* * *

I woke up on the morning of the Hearing, feeling anything but well-rested. I sighed, silencing my alarm clock and promptly hurried to my desk where my notes still lay from the night before. I yawned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I plucked the nearest quill to scribble one last sentence before I flicked through the case file for about the fiftieth time.  
"Today will be fine," I told myself, taking in a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm my racing heart, "Everybody will be there backing us up. We'll convince the Committee of Buckbeak's innocence."

I looked in the mirror and told myself this five more times, all while organising each piece of evidence that I had gathered over the last five months.

"That the spirit, dear," my mirror replied sleepily as I put the file in the briefcase that I'd asked Swetty to get for me the day before, deciding that it was probably best not to use something with an undetectable extension charm like my purse when I was due for my first day in court.

I was in the midst of deciding whether I should use a shrinking or flattening charm on the briefcase when I heard the doorbell chime and quickly rushed downstairs, successfully beating the house-elf to the door before I opened it.

"Charlie?" I blinked, "What are you doing here?"

"Here to pick you up of course."

"Oh?" I said, refastening my dressing gown over my oversized sweatshirt, "Draw the short straw did you?" I teased lightly.

"Volunteered actually," Charlie replied.

I raised an eyebrow.

"So you volunteered to come all the way from Romania just to pick me up and take me to London?" I couldn't help but smile a bit as I embraced him; feeling his rock solid muscles tense beneath his suit.

"How'd you know where I was staying anyway?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" his voice brushed against my ear as he hugged me back just as tightly.

I grinned, feeling my heart flutter as I pulled back to get a better look at him.

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day that Charles Weasley would appear at my front door wearing a suit no less," I smirked.

He looked rather dashing with his plaid coloured vest, blazer, matching slacks and a white buttoned-up shirt though his collar was slightly crooked: Not at all what one would expect from Charles 'Dragon-taming' Weasley but simultaneously not completely devoid of the characteristic charm that made him 'Charlie'.

Charlie's cheeks flushed slightly as he ran a hand through his hair with a groan, "Why do people keep mocking me?" he complained jokingly "You sound just like Andre."

I giggled as reached up to straighten his collar, "Well I think it looks nice."

"Really?"

"Really."

Charlie flashed me one of his lopsided grins before he looked me over, "Just a dressing gown is a very good look on you too," he teased lowly.

I blushed, "Right … clothes, I need to get changed."

"Preferably," the Weasley agreed, whistling when he stepped inside, "Wow, this place is nice."

"Um, do you want anything to eat?" I asked quickly, "Drink? Read? I think I have a book about dragon eggs somewhere …"

"Bethany?" he placed his hands on my shoulders, interrupting my rant. His eyes twinkled with amusement as he brought his face closer to mine.

"Y-yes?"

"Go get changed."

"Right."

I dashed upstairs as he released me with a chuckle.

_Merlin's Beard, _I shook my head: Charlie Weasley was going to be the death of me.

* * *

"Hmm, what to wear, what to wear …" I hummed to myself as I rifled through my closet, "Not that, not that … oh for Merlin's sake why can't I find something? …"

I paused, coming across a champagne coloured dress. Where did this come from? I brought it out to examine.

It was a long-sleeved body fitting robe and cape, dipping slightly in a v at the front, plainly sleek but vibrantly brilliant in colour. Was it too little – too much?

I pursed my lips; my fingers brushing against the silky material as I held it up to the wall-length mirror.

"Now, _that_ Dear, is a dress," the mirror commented approvingly.

* * *

I came down the staircase a moment later where Charlie was still waiting patiently. His eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at me.

I blushed, trying to ignore the way his gaze was making my pulse quicken as I smoothed over a tiny bunch of material from the skirt.

"So? What do you think?" I asked, "Professional enough?"

"What do I think?" he coughed, his eyes focusing on the dress for a moment more before our gaze met with one another, "I think you should dress like this more often."

If I hadn't been blushing before I was definitely blushing now, "We should probably get going before my mum wakes up," I managed to stammer. The door swung back open. The smile never left his face as Charlie took my briefcase in one hand before offering me his other.

"Shall we?"

I returned his smile with one of my own as I took his arm in mine, "Now or never," I replied.

"Ready to apparate now?"

"And land in the correct destination?" I chimed.

"Careful Curse-breaker," he warned jokingly, "Just because you're pretty doesn't mean I'm gonna let you tease me."

I snorted, "Right. Okay ready? Counting down from three."

He nodded as he took my hand in his, "In three … two … one."

* * *

We arrived hand-in-hand in an alleyway just off the bustling streets of London. The groan of running motors along with the occasional honking horn of an impatient driver filled the air, settling over the city like fog.

"I didn't accidentally set us off course again, did I?" asked Charlie; face flushed as anxiety flittered across his expression.

"Relax," I smiled, reassuring him with a gentle squeeze of his hand in mine as we stepped out onto the Main Street, "It's just around the corner, trust me."

The further we walked, the smaller and less intimidating the buildings became until we soon reached a street that contained little more than a handful of shabby-looking offices, a pub and an overflowing dumpster.

"See?" I said, pointing to the old red telephone box which was missing several panels of glass and leaning against a heavily graffitied wall, "Told you we were close."

Normally, either of us would just apparate or Floo in-directly to the Ministry, but today was different.

I stepped inside, shortly followed by Charlie who folded him and the briefcase behind me before he closed the door. It was a tight fit; our bodies were pressed against each other, so close that I could feel the warmth of his breath tickling the back of my neck, sending a tingling sensation of goosebumps down my spine.

Charlie shuffled in closer, the firm muscles of his chest taut against my back beneath the fabric of his blazer as he leaned over my shoulder to reach for the receiver that was hanging crookedly from the wall as if some vandal had tried to rip it off.

"Let me see," he wondered out loud, peering at the dial as he held the receiver up to his ear "six …" he dialled the first number, "two … four … four … two …"

A cool female voice resonated from inside the telephone box as the dial whirled back into place.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."  
"Uh … Charles and Bethany, here to attend a hearing before the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures …"  
"Thank you," replied the voice, "Visitors, please take your badges and attach it to the front of your robes."

There was a click and a rattle as two silver badges clattered down the metal chute that normally returned coins. I picked them up, handing one to Charlie before we pinned them to our robes as the female voice continued:

"Visitors to the Ministry are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

"Searches? I wish we could've just Flooed in from my house," I mumbled as the floor of the telephone box shuddered.

Charlie jumped, his arm instinctively wrapping itself around waist as we slowly began to sink into the ground. I blushed, chuckling lightly despite myself as the pavement rose up past the glass windows of the telephone box before darkness closed over our heads.

There was nothing at all, save from the dull grinding noise as the telephone box made its way down through the earth.

After about a minute, a chink of golden light illuminated both our feet before rising up until it hit us in the face.

"Urgh, I always hate that part," grumbled Charlie, blinking to stop his eyes from watering.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."

* * *

It didn't take us long to register our wands before we reached the place where the hearing was supposed to take place. There was still no sign of Hagrid or Buckbeak, nor had any of our other delegates arrived.  
"We're still two hours early," said Charlie, rubbing the back of his neck almost bashfully after checking his wristwatch, "I figured that you'd want to get here as soon as possible."  
"Which leaves us with enough time to explore some of the Ministry before we start," I agreed, "We might even get to visit Tonks if we're lucky …"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the famous Cursebreaker herself," a man who could have been none other than Lucius Malfoy walked up towards us and looked me over with a curt sneer, "My, Gringotts' standards must have truly plummeted over the years."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I visit your vault," I replied sweetly.

The man's sneer froze for a bit before he quickly recovered, "I have to admit that I was surprised when I saw a Cursebreaker no less being listed in the defence of this creature," he drawled, his pale eyes glinting maliciously, "I would've thought you'd be more suited to working the mines rather than giving evidence before a court."  
"Shows what little you know," replied Charlie through gritted teeth. "And she won't be alone. I'll be on the defence panel too."  
"Yes, a dragon-tamer who spends most of his time consorting with all sorts of dangerous reptiles," continued Mr Malfoy, "What a bold choice …"  
"Sorry I'm late," Penny said as she jogged down the corridor towards us, "There was a particularly nasty case of Goblin Influenza in the ward that wasn't responding to the usual potions …"

"That's alright, we still have a few hours before the hearing even starts," I reassured her. "Are Liz and Barnaby on their way?"  
"Oh yes," she beamed, "Liz was saying something about trying to convince Barnaby not to bring another Hippogriff with him to keep Buckbeak company …"  
Lucius Malfoy left with a smirk as Penny continued rambling, and I couldn't help but feel a slight pit of dread in my stomach.

"I don't like the way he was looking at you," muttered Charlie, his eyes still on the Malfoy as he began chatting to one of the Committee's officials.  
"Oh was that Lucius Malfoy?" asked Penny, noticing as the wizard departed with the Committee member, "Did you know that his family donated ten-thousand galleons to our research centre at St Mungo's?" she flushed pink, "I mean he seems like an awful prick of a wizard and all, but you have to admit that he does know how to utilise his assets …"  
"That's exactly what worries me," I replied quietly.

"Did you get a chance to look at what he was thinking?" asked Charlie.

"Of course she wouldn't!" hissed Penny, looking slightly scandalised, "If word got out that Bethany was a Legilimens they would kick her off the panel for sure …"

"Besides," I added, with a slight shudder, "I rather _not_ delve into the mind of such an evil individual."

"Evil and snobbish," Charlie nodded, "I'm beginning to understand why Dad punched him in the face last year …"  
"Wait, your father did what?"

"Hey, guys!" beamed Barnaby as he and Liz arrived both looking somewhat out of breath, "Did I miss something?"

* * *

"What do you mean that I can't represent the defendant?" I asked.

"This is a trial about a dangerous Hippogriff," replied Lucius Malfoy, a small smirk playing on his lips as he spoke, "It is of no concern to the likes of a Cursebreaker such as yourself …"

"But … that's not fair … I've … I've organised a strong case," I stammered, taken back by the remark, "I've even got notes!"

"That Mr Hagrid is more than welcomed to utilise," finished one of the Committee members curtly, "You and your friends are welcomed to sit in the audience of course but as neither of you has any direct relationship with the case at hand, I'm afraid that Mr Malfoy is correct."

"But the Department of the Regulation and Registration of Magical Creatures told us that our request to oversee Buckbeak's defence had been approved!" shouted Liz, uncharacteristically livid.

"As an independent entity, the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures does not correlate with such a Department at the Ministry," the wizard continued to speak over us, "As I said before, you and your friends are more than welcome to join the audience …"  
"But …"

"We better do as they say," whispered Penny, "Otherwise they'll kick us out and Hagrid will lose for sure."  
"As you wish, your Honour," I bowed my head, clenched fists shaking as I handed my notes to a pale Hagrid and joined everybody else in the nearby stands.

"You alright?" Charlie frowned, taking my trembling hand in his as I sat beside him.

I shook my head, eyes still set on Lucius Malfoy. Of course, he must have done something behind the scenes. Charlie quickly followed my gaze and nodded in agreement.

Something wasn't right.

"Let's just hope that Hagrid remembers everything," said Penny.

Hagrid stumbled, dropping his notes all over the floor from the moment the trial commenced.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that … just let me …" he flushed a deep magenta behind his scraggly beard as he bent down to pick them up only to trip over his own feet. "Um … in 1984 … no that ain't right either …"

* * *

It didn't take long for Hagrid to start to lose his confidence and with it the little support that he'd gained from the Committee.

"It was stated in the incident report that the Hippogriff only attacked Draco Malfoy after the boy insulted him," I interjected, "And before that, Professor Hagrid had specifically warned the class against insulting a Hippogriff's pride as it could lead to possible injury."

"I hate people who are mean to animals," Barnaby grunted.

"Yes, anybody who has ever worked with magical creatures would know that Hippogriffs are extremely proud," Liz agreed.

"Your Honour, I might not be a part of Buckbeak's defence," I continued, "but even you cannot deny the fact that the fault, in this case, lies, not with Hagrid or his Hippogriff but with the boy who clearly did not listen to the instructions of his teacher."

"You speak as if it can understand human language," snorted Lucius Malfoy, "This thing is dangerous, and almost killed my son! It must be disposed of!"

"But he didn't kill him," Charlie reasoned calmly. "He only scratched him. Your Honour, as a Dragonologist I can vouch that no aggravated creature deserves to die after being so obviously baited …"  
"Oh, and I'm sure, as somebody who consorts with dangerous, fire-breathing reptiles for a living, you would hold such a naïve opinion," drawled Mr Malfoy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Order!" said the judge, "May I remind you that this is a hearing, not a duel!"

"Understood, your Honour," Lucius Malfoy scowled before he took to the stage, "If that is all from the defence, may I please be allowed the stage to speak."

"Very well," the judge inclined his head, "Defence, you have pleaded your case, now if the prosecution will please stand."  
"Thank you," Mr Malfoy swept across the stage, preening back an unseen crease in his black robes as he stood before the court.  
"Your Honour and distinguished members of the court, what we have here for us today is a primary example of negligence, leading to this very Hippogriff fatally injuring my own son, no less, an innocent thirteen-year-old boy." Lucius Malfoy said this with such authority as his voice resonated throughout the hall before he turned to face Hagrid.

"Mr Hagrid, am I correct to assume that, despite being appointed as the new Care for Magical Creatures Professor at Hogwarts you do not have any prior classical training?"  
"Well, I s'pose so …"

"No prior training in the field of Magizoology whatsoever?"  
"I wouldn't say that I 'ad no prior trainin'," stammered Hagrid, "I've been Hogwarts …"  
"Gamekeeper, yes, after being expelled for releasing a magical creature out on the school that killed a fellow student of yours no less …"

"Hold on a minute, Aragog told me that he never laid a pincer on 'er …"  
"Distinguished members of this court, as you can see this man clearly should not have been appointed to join the teachers' faculty in the first place. I'm sure it would be appropriate for Mr Hagrid to, therefore, be stripped of his position as the Care of Magical Creatures Professor at Hogwarts and the Hippogriff be disposed of to keep it from harming any more innocent students …"

"Your Honour, Section C paragraph six clearly states that only the Headmaster of Hogwarts can dismiss a professor and, seeing as you, Mr Malfoy are clearly _not _Professor Dumbledore, to even suggest such an act is entirely inappropriate," I retorted heatedly, "And in answer to Hagrid's expulsion from Hogwarts, it was determined that he was not to blame for what happened to that …"  
"That monster tore his arm off!" roared Lucius Malfoy, "You cannot expect to actually allow such a dangerous creature roam free when it savaged my poor son!"

"Beaky didn't rip his arm off!" retorted Hagrid, regaining the colour in his cheeks as he stood in front of his Hippogriff, "It was a flesh wound sure, but teh say that he …"

"Order in the court!"

"_Show them the medical reports!"_ mouthed Penny.

"Wot reports? Oh yeh! The medical reports!" Hagrid rummaged through the pockets of his jacket, "I'm sure I had 'em 'ere somewhere … aha!" He removed the crinkled pieces of parchment as well as a few mouldy dog biscuits before he waved it triumphantly, "This ' ere is the medical reports that I was talkin' about before. One from the matron at Hogwarts Madam Pomfrey, an' the other from some of the healers at St. Mungo's."  
Hagrid tripped over himself as he hurried to hand them out to the Committee and we waited with bated breath as they each took turns reading …

"Your Honour, this is ridiculous," snapped Malfoy, "All written evidence was supposed to be handed in before the hearing commenced not after …"

"This report, do you recall which healer signed it off?" asked the judge.

"I did, your Honour!" Penny chimed, shooting up out of her seat. "I'm Penny Haywood, I run the Department of Research in Magical Maladies and my colleague Chiara Lobosca specialises in Magical Creature related injuries. She would have been here too but she was on-call …"

"I see," said the judge, "And, did you see the boy personally?"

"Yes, Chiara and I were called into Hogwarts for the sole purpose of examining the patient," Penny replied crisply, "There were several minor claw marks on his right forearm and the patient was experiencing abnormal amounts of pain, but after both of our consultations Chiara and I agreed with Madam Pomfrey, the matron Healer at Hogwarts that there was no major damage inflicted on any tendons or nerve-endings by the Hippogriff's talons …"

"Your Honour, this murderous beast incapacitated my son!" Mr Malfoy interjected loudly, "He might never write properly again! And these creature sympathisers are suggesting that this … this _thing_, should get away with this?"

The court mirrored his words as he continued, "Is this really what our world has come to? Where justice is obstructed by people who seem to think the rights of a creature is more important than the rights of a wizarding citizen of our own wizarding community?"  
Malfoy's words seemed to echo throughout the entire court as the panel began to whisper amongst themselves and he sat down, seemingly satisfied with the response. What he had touched on was many of the panel's fear of the unknown. I gritted my teeth, silently wishing for that the man might trip over and break his nose on the steps as he went back to his seat. That, if anything, would certainly wipe his pompous smirk clean off …

"You have clearly given us a lot to think about Mr Malfoy," the judge inclined his head, "Given the proof of negligence in the proper handling of a dangerous creature, the Committee for the Removal of Dangerous Creatures finds Buckbeak the Hippogriff guilty. This case is therefore adjourned till the next appeal."

* * *

"I can't believe that man could do something so … so _evil_," exclaimed Liz, positively fuming as we left the courtroom, "He's … he's like a Basilisk! An evil, venomous Basilisk!"

"And no doubt Malfoy had something to do with botching up our defence," I added bitterly

"Do you think he's really a snake?" wondered Barnaby, "I reckon it'd be pretty cool to be a snake …"

"We still have the appeal though," Penny reminded us though even she seemed to have lost some of the brightness in her tone as she spoke.

"That's true, …" I murmured, only to see Lucius Malfoy stalking towards me with a toxic look in his icy glare.

"Your brother was a meddlesome busybody too," he hissed as he rounded up on me with flaring nostrils, "If you're not careful you'll meet the same sticky end as he did."

"That sounds an awful lot like you're trying to threaten me, Mr Malfoy," I retorted; my hand automatically closing in around my wand as I met his cold grey eyes and it seemed that he was truly about to draw his own when Charlie stepped between us.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said the dragon-tamer.

Tension filled the corridor as Malfoy's eyes narrowed; no doubt taking in Charlie's muscular appearance followed by Barnaby who cracked his knuckles together.

"Do say hello to your father for me," he drawled sarcastically before he stormed away with an important swish of his cloak.

"Yeh didn't need teh do that Bethany," Hagrid mumbled between trumpet-like sniffles as he appeared behind us with Buckbeak in tow.

"Yeah, I did."

* * *

Penny had to get back to St. Mungo's, leaving us to spend the rest of the day taking Buckbeak and Hagrid around London. With Liz's (or perhaps it was Tulip's?) clever disillusionment charm, Buckbeak was magically disguised so that he looked like an oversized dog, allowing us to walk through the botanical gardens with ease.

"Buckbeak looks so happy," Charlie murmured as we sat under the shade of a nearby oak tree, watching as the hippogriff play fetch with Barnaby.

I smiled, "Yeah, he does."

"I reckon he knows though … deep down," Charlie continued, averting his gaze sadly as he tugged at his collar.

"You shouldn't think like that," I reprimanded him gently, shuffling closer to loosen his tie for him and he smiled a little despite himself, though he still didn't look completely at ease.

"You're right," he said, lacing his much longer fingers with my smaller ones as Buckbeak caught the stick before immediately snapping it in two.

Liz and Hagrid stood not too far off, the former comforting the latter as his giant shoulders heaved. Charlie wasn't the only one who was taking this latest blow very hard.

"Don't give up hope just yet," I said, leaning my head on the Weasley's shoulder as I squeezed his hand in mine, "It's not over. We're in this together, remember?"

Charlie smiled, pressing his lips to my forehead before he rested his head on mine.

"That we are, Cursebreaker," he replied, "That we are."

* * *

"Thank yeh all fer coming out to support Beaky and me," Hagrid said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve as we arrived at his hut, "Don't know what I would 'a done without yeh …"

"Don't worry about it, Hagrid," said Charlie, grinning, "We weren't about to let the two of you get bossed around by the likes of Lucius Malfoy, ain't that right, Buckbeak?"

Buckbeak let out a low croon, nuzzling his giant head affectionately against my shoulder.

"Wait, was Malfoy the one with the long nose?" asked Barnaby, scratching his head with confusion, "Or was he the one with the weird snake-stick-thingy?"  
We all laughed at that.

"Speakin' of Malfoy, you best steer clear of that man," Hagrid said, suddenly serious again as he faced me, "Trust me when I tell yeah 'at yeh don't want teh get on that man's bad side …"  
My mind flittered back to Malfoy's cool glare as he looked me over before I shook my head.

"Trust me Hagrid. I'm not going to let Malfoy get under my skin," I replied firmly, "And neither should you."

"Buckbeak does seem a bit peckish at the moment," noted Liz conversationally, "Perhaps you should treat him with a ferret or two for being on his best behaviour today."

"Well, I suppose Beaky did behave rather well durin' the hearing," agreed Hagrid.

"Ooh, can I have a treat?" asked Barnaby.

"I don't think that you'd enjoy eating dead ferret as a late lunch, Barnaby," I pointed out.

"Speaking of which, we should probably get going," Charlie said, shivering, "I don't fancy coming across another Dementor on the way back."

"Nor do I," nodded Liz, "Dementors are possibly the only creatures that I simply can't stand."

"They smell kind of like my Nan's old perfume," said Barnaby.

"Good thinking," I replied, "We'll all be doing our share of research for the next appeal, so don't forget to owl us if you need any more help," I said to Hagrid.

That made Hagrid tear up all over again, but he managed to contain himself as he nodded.

"Alright," said the giant, "You lot take care 'of yerself."

* * *

"Is it four o'clock already?" Liz inquired airily as we got to Hogsmeade Station, "I promised Doozle a game of wizard's chess before bedtime."

Charlie raised an eyebrow, "Whose Doozle?"

"My Acromantula of course," answered the Magizoologist as if it were obvious. "He gets angsty whenever I'm late."

And with that said witch promptly disapparated on the spot.

Charlie and I looked at one another.

"Did she just …"

"I think so."

"I'm _so_ jealous," said Barnaby, "I've always wanted to play chess with my Acromantula but she always insists on trying to eat my face off instead."

I raised an eyebrow, "Wait, what?"  
"It's alright, I still have plenty of face left," replied Barnaby, "Though I guess I should be checking on the creatures before I get back home. See you guys later!"  
He waved before he too disapparated in the middle of the road.

Charlie shook his head in disbelief, "Well, I suppose this research isn't going to finish itself, is it?"

"Unfortunately not."

Charlie paused, slowing to match my pace before he spoke again. "I … I left my broom with Aberforth if you need a lift."  
"Thanks, but I should be able to Floo directly from Rosmerta's fireplace to mine."

"Are you sure you'll be alright though?" Charlie asked, "I know that you and your mum don't … I mean, you're more than welcome to stay at the Burrow if you want to …"  
"That is so sweet of you, but that would only make things worse," I sighed, "Owl you when I get back?"

"Not if I owl you first," replied the Weasley.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he averted his gaze, freckled cheeks flushed slightly in the afternoon sun.

"Next time," I said.

He cocked his head to the side with confusion.

"Next time, I'd love to stay with you," I repeated going on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek before I stepped away.

Charlie blinked, touching his cheek before he nodded, "Next time."

And with that promise to look forward to, the two of us parted and went our separate ways.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when I finally got back home.  
"Good evening, Miss!" squeaked Swetty, hurrying to dust me off as soon as I stepped out of the fireplace, "Shoes off please, Swetty has just swept the living room floor."

"Hello Swetty," I smiled, complying by taking off my shoes and levitating them towards the front door before I let out a yawn, "Where's Mum?"

"Mistress be telling Swetty to let Miss know that Mistress has gone to America to visit relatives," replied the house-elf, ducking her head apologetically, "Mistress would have told Miss in person but she could not be finding Miss and had to leave by teatime …"  
_Of course,_ I tried to hide the swelling disappointment that I felt behind my smile as I inclined my head.

"I see, thank you for letting me know, Swetty," I said, vanishing the remaining soot from my sleeves before I sank into the nearest recliner with a sigh.

Swetty cocked her head to the side, "Is Miss hungry? Swetty has noticed that Miss has been going without breakfast," the elf tutted.

I was about to say that I wasn't hungry before my stomach betrayed me with a loud grumble.

"That would be great, actually."

"Swetty will brew Miss' favourite tea and be preparing a late lunch," the house-elf nodded, beaming from ear-to-ear before vanishing in the direction of the kitchen.

* * *

I sank into my bed that night, mentally replaying today's hearing with a sigh.  
"It'll be okay," I tried to convince myself as I curled underneath the duvet before blowing out the candles. Sabrina cocked her head to the side as lay on my bed staring blankly at the ceiling that I had magically enchanted to look like the night sky. It reminded me of the Great Hall at Hogwarts.

Brina meowed, leaping up before she padded over to me, almost as if she had sensed my distress.  
"I'm fine," I lied, "Just tired."

It'll be okay.

Malfoy's words swirled still in my head like leaves dancing in the breeze of an oncoming storm.

"_If you're not careful you'll meet the same sticky end as he did." _

I shook my head before I sunk into the comfort of my pillow and closed my eyes, wishing myself away from my problems, if only for a night.

* * *

_I thought that I'd include Buckbeak's Trial because I wanted to incorporate some of the tension between the Hogwarts gang and Lucius Malfoy. And, seeing as you've all been such wonderful readers, I decided to add the tiniest bit of Charlie/MC fluff because how could I not? _

_Don't forget to subscribe!  
XOX_

_Sword Gold. _


	14. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of these lovely characters. The title of this chapter is the same as one of Celestina Warbeck's (most under-appreciated) songs by the same name. _

* * *

**Your Love Makes Me Soar Like a Dragon**

* * *

The morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window as I became aware of something soft that had come into contact with my back: It was my bed. I fell back atop of the pillow, and _God_ – he was doing it again, kissing me at the base of my collarbone. He used one of his hands to prop himself up above me as the other trailed up my thigh, pushing the white cotton of my pyjamas higher and higher until the rough pad of his thumb brushed against my now exposed hip.

I let out a satisfied sigh, opening my eyes just in time to see his lopsided grin, and I just couldn't help it – I smirked, pulling his face down toward mine and kissed him gently, my fingers now entangled in his curls as his lips parted slightly before he kicked off his shoes.

With one hand still lost in his untidy orange hair, I used the other to tug him closer by the collar of his shirt. I hadn't even realised that his shirt had a collar beneath his red, woollen jumper until he pulled it off and my pulse quickened at the anticipation of more of him to touch. I could feel his smile against my lips as I fumbled to undo his buttons and he joined me, moving swiftly before the garment was discarded with haste.

I unfastened my hands just long enough for him to pull my t-shirt off over my head, his brown eyes shining in the full daylight as they glided over my face with a radiant smile.

I kissed him back, grazing his lower lip ever so slightly and his grip tightened on my thigh as my fingers travelled along his jawline, from his hair to his neck, then from his shoulder to his back – so smooth and wonderfully sensual.

He ran a hand up the side of my now bare torso, sending tingles up my spine before ending in my hair, tugging it free from its loose ponytail. He hummed, an unmistakable tenderness in his gaze as he cradled my cheek in the palm of his hand.

Giggling, I tore my lips away and pressed a trail of kisses along his jaw to his throbbing Adam's apple as the skin of our abdomens brushed against one another.

He pulled back, just for a moment, and I used it as an opportunity to finally get a better look at him.

Everything about him was just so ... perfect.  
"Hey, Cursebreaker," Charlie murmured, grinning as he spoke, and I couldn't help but return his smile with one of my own.

"Hey, Dragontamer."

Charlie leaned forward to kiss me again, only this time it was slow. Something bubbled up inside my stomach. At first, I thought they were just butterflies but it was more than that: a want no pure _need_ for more.

I placed my hand against his chest, feeling his pulse against mine before rounding up over his shoulder to pull him closer … and where the _hell_ was that bloody ringing sound coming from?

I woke up with a start, heart hammering as I checked my surroundings. I was neither in a state of undress nor wearing the said white t-shirt of my dream, but was still in the soft comforts of my silk nightgown. My bedroom and bed were the same as they'd always been, and, (save from my cat who slept at the foot of my bed) I was very much alone in it. The only similarity was that my hair had indeed fallen out of its loose ponytail, mused from a good night's sleep.

Thank _Merlin_.

It was just a dream. I ran a hand through the tangles and knots that had developed overnight and sighed. Bloody hell, I hadn't had a dream like that since _Cairo_.

The ringing, of course, was coming from overhead and I very nearly fell out of bed, grabbing my wand from my bedside table before silencing the damn thing with a clumsy _Silencio_.

My heart was still hammering in my ears as I took in my surroundings one last time before I tore off the sheets of my duvet.

What I needed was a nice, cold shower.

* * *

"Did Miss be having a pleasant sleep?" Swetty asked politely as she placed a plate of crepes in front of me.

I jumped a little in my seat, "Hmm? Oh, yes," I managed to stammer before I picked up my mug to inhale its sweet wisps of hot steam. "Which reminds me, I'll be staying back late at work tonight so don't expect me home."  
"Miss be working very hard," the elf noted with a solemn nod, "Does Miss need Swetty to be packing a lunch or perhaps an extra dinner for Miss to eat?"  
"Thank you for offering, Swetty, but I should be fine," I replied, "There are plenty of places that I can go to in Diagon Alley for a hot meal."  
"If that be what Miss wishes to do," nodded the house-elf, "Would Miss like some syrup or perhaps Miss prefers some butterscotch sauce with Miss' pancakes?"

* * *

I stepped into Gringotts, the heels of my boots echoing as I made my way across the marble floor. A large chandelier of diamonds sparkled from above as I took in a breath. After spending so many years overbroad, I'd almost forgotten how impressive the bank's foyer truly was.

"Merlin's beard, are my eyes deceiving me or are you actually here early?" Bill teasing voice crooned from behind.

I rolled my eyes as the Weasley joined me; curbing his usually long strides to match my own.

"Oh, _ha-ha_ very funny," I drawled.

Bill smirked, hands in his pockets as we walked down the portrait corridor that led towards the Cursebreakers' department, taking care to ignore the portrait of a particular Cursebreaker that scowled at the two of us.

"Really though," he replied, seriously this time. "Charlie told me about the trial …"  
"If you can call it a trial," I muttered.

"Point being," he continued, "Are you really sure …"  
"Yes, I'm sure that I'm fully capable of working overtime tonight, Bill," I answered his question before he finished his sentence. "And besides, it gives me something to do," I added quickly.

"Fine," relented the Weasley, "It's not like you'd actually listen to me anyway …"

"That's because there's a difference between listening and following through with what I hear," I quipped back.

"Oh _sure_," Bill snorted, ruffling my hair as the doors opened for us. "Just promise me that you won't stay here all night? You might be an amazing Cursebreaker but you still need to sleep."

"Alright, alright. Whatever you say …"

* * *

The clock in the office struck midnight as my owl Pepper came swooping in through the open window and onto her perch with what looked like a dead rat in her beak, apparently very proud of herself while I sat at my desk working on my latest project.

The dim candlelight flickered overhead, dancing in stinging spots across my irises as I let out a short yawn.

Overtime again.

Ever since transferring back from Cairo, I found that I was actually getting used to it now, in fact, I found that at least with work I could keep my mind from wandering to other things.

"_Your brother was a meddlesome busybody too," hissed Mr Malfoy as he rounded on me, nostrils flaring, "If you're not careful you'll meet the same sticky end as he did." _

Did he know something that I didn't?

Could he possibly be linked to 'R'?

I shook my head.

No, now wasn't the time to think about that, I told myself.  
Pepper stared at me, interrupting my thoughts with a hoot as she cocked her head to the side.

"I'm alright," I promised, finishing the final sentence before I dropped my quill with a slight yawn before reaching for my mug of Butterbeer to find that it was already long since stone cold.

"Typical," I sighed, reheating it with a flick of my wand before I slumped back into my chair, stretching my stiff fingers when a Patronus came soaring through the window.

Pepper screeched; flapping her wings indignantly at the intruding ball of light as it slowly yet surely transformed into a Patronus that I recognised to be Bill's.

'_I know that you're probably either working or heading home but it's Charlie and um … it's probably best if you come by to see for yourself …' _

"Well, looks like the Butterbeer is going to have to wait," I murmured, getting up as the Patronus disappeared and tugged on my coat.

Pepper blinked, her large amber eyes gazing reproachfully at me as if it were my fault that a Patronus had interrupted her meal.

"Fine, go ahead and try some," I replied, "But don't blame me if you get Butterbeer stuck in-between your feathers again."

* * *

"Holy Merlin …"

The bedroom was littered with crumpled parchment; Butterbeer bottles and discarded textbooks, with the dragon keeper in question slumped in a corner. He stared at his feet, head tilted with his brown eyes obstructed by his fringe, silent and unmoving.

I sighed, tiptoeing my way through the mess before I crouched beside him.

"A little birdy tells me that there's been a certain stubborn dragon keeper who won't go to sleep."

The sound of my voice made him shoot up immediately.

"God damn it, Bill," he glared somewhat angrily towards his brother. "This was your idea, wasn't it?"  
Bill threw both hands up in the air.

"Why did you make her come? It's so late. You know that it's not safe …"  
I raised an eyebrow, stepping in between the two.

"So you don't want to see me then?"

Charlie blinked, immediately falling quiet again as I sought his gaze. His face flushed pink as he averted his eyes, looking everywhere but at me.

"Charlie."

No response.

"Charles Weasley," I seized his face and drew closer, forcing his eyes on me.

"Listen to me, I know that you want to keep working on the appeal but you're pushing yourself too hard. It's the middle of the night for Aprigga's Sake. You need to get some sleep."  
"But … I … I'm not sleepy …"  
I squished his face to look like a Plimpy.

"Hmm …"  
Charlie was still intentionally avoiding my eyes in a show of defiance.

"Go to sleep or I won't go to the next Quidditch game with you, _and_ I'll eat all the Honeydukes Chocolate that you keep stashed behind your pillow."  
Charlie's eyes widened, "No, not the chocolate!"

He paused before letting out a sigh in resignation.

"Fine, I'll sleep!"  
"Promise?"  
"I promise."

"Good," I let him go with a huge grin, "Now go."

"Yes Ma'am," he mumbled, rubbing his cheeks that were either red from me squeezing them or pure embarrassment.

* * *

It didn't take long for us to coax him back into his bed. Charlie clutched at the duvet, looking somewhat pathetically at us with a pouty smile.

"It's all good," he said, "I'll be fine. See?"  
As if to convince us, he gave the cushion two hard pats.

"Right," Bill frowned, "We're turning out the light now."

Charlie didn't say a word and buried his head under the cover as I quietly closed the door behind me. Then I motioned for Bill to be quiet.

In three … two … one …

It wasn't long until I heard rustling coming from inside the room.

"Aha!"

He froze in front of his lit lamp and dropped his wand that he'd been using for illumination.

I looked at a flustered Charlie with my hands on my hips.

"Uh … _Surprise_?"  
Bill pinched the bridge of his nose in resignation, "That's it, I give up," he announced, leaving the room with a moan.

I planted myself on the foot of Charlie's bed, refusing to look at him as he gingerly scooted next to me.

He was breathing heavily, showing signs of extreme fatigue.

"Are … Are you mad at me?"

I ignored him.

"Don't be mad," he pouted, "It's not that I don't want to go to sleep; I just can't fall asleep." He sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair.  
"Whenever I close my eyes, all I see is Buckbeak in those shackles and all the things that I could be doing for him." His voice began to tremble as he shut his eyes, "Merlin, I feel so useless …"

"Come 'ere."

He shuffled in closer, compliantly leaning his head on my shoulder as he left the rest of his sentence unfinished.

"It's all right, it's going to be okay," I held him tight, running my fingers through his orange hair. "You're not useless," I said, "You're awesome."  
"You really think so?"

"Of course," I replied, "You might be an utter dork, but I'll always love you."

Charlie seemed to freeze up for a second before he put his arms around my waist.

"I'm so tired …"

"I'll let you go to bed then …"

"No, don't go," he whined, tugging me backwards by my waist.

I raised an eyebrow, "But there won't be enough room."

"It's fine," he mumbled, "We can just stay like this, …"  
I giggled, placing a kiss to his forehead as I took in the scent of his body.

"Alright."  
Save the occasional squeak of pipes overhead the room was completely quiet. Charlie leaned on my shoulder and his breathing evened.

Just as I thought that he'd fallen asleep, he suddenly spoke up.

"Bethany?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you too …"

I froze, eyes widening before I managed a smile, "Goodnight, Charlie."

It wasn't long until he'd passed out, stretched over his bed with his head on my lap, sleeping peacefully.

I watched him for what seemed like an eternity before I started to yawn.

Maybe a little shut-eye wouldn't hurt.

* * *

_The next morning ..._

* * *

"Well, would you look at that," Bill announced with a smirk, "If it isn't the love birds finally making their way downstairs for a late breakfast …"

Charlie shot his brother a glare before he ran a sheepish hand through his sleep-mused hair. "Where's Mum?" he asked instead in an attempt to change the subject.

"Out feeding the chickens," replied Bill, "I wasn't sure whether I should tell her to expect an extra guest or not …"

"Oh, shove off," muttered Charlie as Bill waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Bill snorted before handing each of us a slice of freshly buttered toast.

"Anyway, I suppose I should thank you for wrangling his stubborn arse to bed for me," he continued, talking to me now.

Charlie made a slight humphing sound at the back of his throat, waving his wand so that the jug of pumpkin juice poured out two glasses on its own as I averted my gaze. He took a glass for himself before he handed one to me.

"Oi, where's mine?" asked Bill, frowning.

"Clearly, still up your arse," retorted Charlie.

I giggled, spluttering on my pumpkin juice as Bill raised an eyebrow.

* * *

_I hope that was enough smut for you ;) _

_Remember to like and comment! I love reading your reviews!_

_Yours truly,_

_Sword Gold. _


	15. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm just another Potter-head with a fascination for all things magical._

* * *

**Farewell**

* * *

I left the Weasleys via Floo Network, cheeks still flushed as my fireplace came into view and I stumbled out.

"Miss is finally home, just in time for tea!" cheered Swetty, tottering over to wipe me down with a clean towel. "Swetty hopes that Miss hasn't been working too hard …"  
"I'm fine, Swetty," I smiled, running a hand through my hair as the house-elf handed me a hairbrush.

"Thanks."  
I ran the comb through my hair, untangling all of the sleep mused knots from last night's impromptu sleep-over before tying it back in a quick ponytail.

"Swetty has just started running the water if Miss wants a nice bath," chimed the house-elf, eyes sparkling as I stepped out into the living room.

"You know what, Swetty? A bath is exactly what I need …"

* * *

"_Bethany? I love you too …" _

I shook out my hair, my heart suddenly pounding as I let my mind wander back to last night …

_Don't take it seriously_, I chastised myself. _He was sleep-deprived for Merlin's sake. It's not like he actually meant it … _

But what if he_ did_? Another voice chimed back.

I shook my head, the floral scented candles and lavender bath-oil filling the bathroom with its sweet aroma as I eased my way into the hot water.

I gasped, a wave of relaxation washing over my senses as I sank in deeper with a blissful sigh. The rest of the world seemed a million miles away as I closed my eyes and ducked my head under the water.

I came up again, letting it soak through my hair before the shampoo levitated over. It poured itself out into my hair, running soothing lines of pressure along my scalp.

"Hmm, that's nice," I hummed, leaning backwards as it formed into a lather. My thoughts immediately flittered back to my time at the Burrow, light filtering through the blinds of Charlie's bedroom as I woke up in his arms.

Not unlike Cairo, I mused to myself before I dipped my head back to wash it out.

_The feeling of his skin on mine was so much better than I could have ever imagined, and I let my head fall back to let out a short sigh. __I wanted him to go further, to touch me in every place that I needed to be touched …_

I shook my head, snapping myself out of my reverie as the water lapped around me before I quickly drew a towel and wrung out my hair.

_Merlin_, this guy really was going to be the death of me.

* * *

It was night time when a tawny owl that I recognised to be from Hogwarts came flying through the window with a crumpled letter latched to its leg. It landed on the table in front of me with an important ruffle of its feathers as I hurried to untie the letter before it promptly spread its wings and took off again.

I unfolded the envelope, my mind still groggy from a lack of sleep before I read it.

_Dear Bethany,_

_Just got the letter from the Ministry today. We lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. Still waiting for the execution date. Thanks for coming along with us; Beaky really enjoyed London._

_I won't forget all the help you gave us._

_Hagrid_

A cold wave of dread washed over me as I gripped the parchment in my hands. No, it couldn't be over. I shook my head.

What about the appeal?

Penny said that there was always an appeal … wasn't there?

I remembered the smug look dancing across Lucius Malfoy's callous blue eyes and gritted my teeth. Of course, _he_ of all people must have had something to do with this. He had already sabotaged our defence at the Hearing – but this?

"That evil little prick," I muttered.

I slammed my hands against the table, rattling my bowl of untouched soup as I stood up. He might have already sabotaged us so far, but I'd be _damned_ if I let him get away with it.  
"Should Swetty put away the dinner for later?" asked the house-elf tentatively.

"Yes please, Swetty," I replied, anger coursing through my veins as I pulled on my coat that floated in from the cloak rack. "It seems that I still have some unfinished business to attend to …"

* * *

I apparated into the streets of Hogsmeade, my mind still a whirlwind of rage as I stepped out behind Honeydukes where I saw the official Ministry notice hammered to the door written out in large purple newsprint.

— _BY ORDER OF —_

_THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_

_Customers are reminded that until further notice, dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade every night after sundown. This measure has been put in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and will be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is therefore advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall._

_Yours in Fellowship,_

_Sir Cornelius Fudge, _

_Minister of Magic_

"Oh Sirius," I sighed, "What have you done this time?"

* * *

Sirius ran, his bare feet slapping against stone as he skidded down the corridor, the boy's scream still echoing in his ears.

He'd been close – so damn close.

He snarled, clenching the dagger in his mouth by its handle before he transformed into a large black dog and bounded out of the doors moments before it locked shut behind him. The dog swore, baring his teeth as he shook his head. The trail that he'd been following for the past month had long since gone cold. His fur stood on end as he leapt over the courtyard fountain and sped in the direction of the woods. Already he could sense the approaching Dementors – their foreboding chill blanketing over the castle like a heavy fog. Even in this form, the grief of his failure washed over the wizard, like a tsunami, rendering him motionless.

He had failed. He had failed his friends. Failed in doing the one thing that he'd vowed to do. His limbs shook; collapsing beneath the weight of his anguish and he hit the cold ground with a groan, the pain of it forcing him to transform back.

Red spots danced over the wizard's irises as the grass turned grey beneath him, crystallising into shrivelled ash as his breaths came out in gasps of ice.

"I'm sorry James … I'm sorry Lily," he whispered.

Sirius closed his eyes as the shrouded cloaks of death loomed over him, sucking away the little strength that he had left …

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!"

A blue light came bounding in from nowhere, driving the Dementors away from the man, huddling as he waited for a death that never came …

Sirius Black blinked, his vision shifting in and out of focus as another figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Sirius, you _fucking_ arsehole."

* * *

"Out of all the _stupid_ things that you have ever done in your entire life, that, Sirius Black, was probably the _worst_!" I scowled, hands trembling as I ran my wand over his broken bones.

The wizard didn't respond, his face half-hidden by the shadows of the cave as he averted his gaze.

I rolled my eyes, bandaging his leg with a hasty _Ferula_ charm before I took out a chunk of chocolate and handed it to him.

He accepted it, wordlessly taking a bite as I sank to my knees beside him.

"You're lucky that I was coming through to check in on Buckbeak otherwise you'd be worse than …"  
_Dead_, went the unsaid.

I sighed, breaking off a piece of chocolate for myself before our gaze finally met.

"I didn't need your help," he rasped, struggling to get to his feet but I pulled him back down.

"Sit down, Black. Your leg's still broken."

He relented, shrugging me off as he sank back into the makeshift futon that I'd constructed out of leaves and moss.

"You could've _died_, Sirius." I continued, shaking my head as I went back to stoking the small campfire with some extra kindling. "Now, I might not know what it was that you were up to, breaking into the Gryffindor Common Room for the second time this year. But whatever it is, it isn't worth risking your life over …"

"But it is."

His voice echoed throughout the cavern as he pushed himself up, "It is."

"What is?"

The man grew silent again, eyes darting around the cave, looking anywhere but at me.

"Sirius … Sirius, please talk to me …"  
"I … I can't."

Silence hung over us for what seemed to last for an eternity before I let out a breath.

"Fine. Then I guess I can't help you." I murmured, clenching my fists as I spoke.

"This place should be safe enough for you to stay the night without being found," I said, my voice soft as glanced back at him. "If getting yourself killed is what you want to do than go ahead. I won't try and stop you." I stood up, pocketing my wand in my coat before I turned away.

"Goodbye, Sirius."

And with that, I stepped out into the cold night air and disappeared.

* * *

"Oh, Hagrid …"

It was much later than I'd planned to be by the time I made it to Hagrid's hut where he quickly let me in.

"So yeh got me letter," he sniffled, wiping his face on the wrinkled sleeve of his jacket as he sank back down into his chair with a look of despair. "I have teh keep 'im tied up outside now. Up until they decide when teh …" his lower lip trembled as he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

"What about the appeal?" I asked, forcing myself to sound more upbeat as I bent down to rub Fang's belly. "There's always an appeal …"

"Yeah, the appeal …" he grunted miserably, "But you heard 'em before at the hearin'. It's no good. Not if Malfoy's got anythin' teh say 'bout it."

I shook my head, "If there was ever anybody that I wanted to curse more, it'll be that man." I murmured, "I could do it you know? Curse Malfoy. There's this new one that I read about not too long ago that I've simply been dying to try out on someone …"

Hagrid managed a weak smile at the sound of that. "That's sweet of yeh, Bethany, but I don't want yeh causing any trouble. Not fer my sake."

"But there must be _something_ we can do," I implored, but the giant just shook his head.

"I meant wat I said in that letter, I'm grateful fer all the help you've given Beaky and me over these pas' few months, but it's over now. Like the muggles say yeh shouldn't cry o'er spilt … wat was it again? Spilt guts?" he frowned, "The point bein', you've done everything that yeh could to help us. Now the most we can do is make sure that he's comfortable before they …" Hagrid broke down into sobs again.

I blinked back my tears as I clutched his forearm, his shoulders heaving as he wept into my arms. In the distance the single wail of a lonely hippogriff resonated through the cold air from his post in the garden, silently breaking my heart all over again as the giant sank to his knees.

Hagrid was right. This really was the end.

* * *

_I know that the chapter was a little bit shorter than the others but I swear that there will definitely be more from where that came from. _

_Thank you for all of your lovely reviews! I am so touched that you've been enjoying the story so far. _

_Remember to comment and subscribe! _

_Yours truly,_

_SwordGold. _


	16. Chapter 15

_Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe that we've already made it this far! With the Prisoner of Azkaban coming to an end, so is this story, but don't worry! I still have plenty more up my sleeve that I've been working on ... I hope you guys enjoy this! - S.G._

_Disclaimer: Once again I must stress that I do not own Harry Potter. J.K has been the inspiration for this story but I am nowhere near as talented as she is. _

* * *

**Another Summoning**

* * *

"Ah, Bethany, your timing as always, is impeccable," smiled Professor Dumbledore as I stumbled out of the fireplace into the Headmaster's office in a whirl of green smoke: Merlin, how I hated travelling by Floo.

"Yeah, well you didn't exactly give me much notice, sir," I replied, dusting soot off my jeans until I realised that I clearly wasn't the only person who had been summoned to Hogwarts out of the blue …

"Tonks?" I blinked.

"Wotcher, Bethany!" grinned the auror, as she wrung out her wet lilac hair.

I frowned, "But I thought you'd just been sent abroad for another mission …"

"So did I," Nymphadora Tonks replied, looking uncharacteristically peevish. "At first, I thought that I'd somehow managed to botch up my Portkey when I landed in the middle of the Black Lake instead of the safe-house in Brazil," she gestured to her dripping, wet clothes, "But apparently it was all _intentional_."

She shot an accusing glare in the Headmaster's direction as she shook out her sleeves.

"I'm afraid so," admitted the Professor, drying the witch's clothes with a wave of his wand. "Though I must admit that I did not anticipate that you would break away from the Portkey before you reached the school grounds …"

"Huh, funny that," she retorted, "Lucky thing that I happened to pack some Gillyweed with me, otherwise I'd have _never_ made it out," Tonks shuddered at the thought.

"Would you care for lemon sherbet?" asked the Headmaster conversationally, "They might be a muggle confectionary but I personally find them positively delightful."

Tonks cocked her head to the side, "So, you called us here to talk about … sherbet?"

"Lemon sherbet," Dumbledore corrected her, "They really are quite good …"

"Something's happened recently, hasn't it?" I deduced tentatively, "I noticed the lack of Dementors outside," I added quickly.

Tonks paled, "Wait, does that mean that they …" her voice began to tremble as she trailed off and I suddenly realised why she'd lost all the colour in her face …

"On the contrary, Miss Tonks," replied the Headmaster, "It seems that Sirius Black managed to … slip through the Ministry's hands once again, on the back of a Hippogriff that had been sentenced to be executed earlier today."

I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he said that.

"So they're both alive?" I asked, "And the Ministry?"

"Has sent the Dementors back to Azkaban," replied Dumbledore cheerfully, "It seems that, with Black's escape they need not stay any longer at Hogwarts. But that is not why I called you to my office …"

He gestured for us to take a chair in front of his desk, and we did, waiting with bated breath for the Headmaster to elaborate.

"I asked you both here to apologise, for not believing either of you so many years ago."

"So, what are you saying? Are you saying that I was right?" grinned Tonks excitedly, "He's innocent?"

"It would appear so, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore inclined his head, before he continued, "Now, what I'm about to tell the two of you must never leave this room …"

* * *

"So yeh heard!" a very drunk Hagrid beamed from ear-to-ear as soon as Tonks and I approached his hut.

"Um … yeah," Tonks stammered, "We heard that …"  
"Buckbeak escaped!" he said, swaying slightly on his feet with a bottle of whiskey in hand.

"Right, _that_!" I replied as the two of us shared an inward sigh of relief.

"Don't know 'ow he did it," continued Hagrid happily, "Must 've pulled himself loose or somethin', clever boy. I mean it's rotten dat Black got 'way too, but I've gotta admit I'm just so happy that Buckbeak's free …"

"We're happy too, Hagrid," I smiled, gripping his forearm when he stumbled a bit.

"' Pose that's why you're 'ere innit? Ministry sent you out teh look for 'im?"

"For Buckbeak? Err, something like that, yeah," lied Tonks unconvincingly, "But we're just going to tell the Ministry that there's no sight of him … he's um … flown the coop."

"Yeah," I nodded quickly, "And I was just here to congratulate you on the good news."

"I wonder where he is though," said the giant, "Don't reckon he'd come back 'ere any time soon would he?"

"He's probably found himself a nice empty meadow full of ferrets somewhere," Tonks said.

"'Ope so, well, I better turn meself in fer the night," replied Hagrid, "Big day it's been today."

"Good idea," I agreed, tugging Tonks back along the pathway, "Goodnight, Hagrid."

"Night," he yawned, still looking as if he were walking on clouds as he made his way back to his hut.

"That was close," whispered Tonks, "Lucky thing you remembered about Buckbeak …"

I nodded, "Hopefully, the two of them are somewhere far away from here."

* * *

I came stumbling through the fireplace connected to the Cursebreakers department before I rushed into the corridor, my shoes slapping against the marble floors until I reached the one painting that depicted the leering face of Patricia Rakepick.

"You knew," I replied, my voice shaking with anger as I clenched my fists and I rounded up on her portrait, "All this time you knew and you said _nothing_?"  
The witch didn't respond, regarding me with a simpering raise of her eyebrow.

"If you don't answer me in five seconds I am going to start burning your canvas," I warned.

Madam Rakepick let out a snort, "And what would that achieve?"

I glared, sparks flying from the tip of my wand as I raised it threateningly before she sighed.

"Always so dramatic. Fine, if you must know I only discovered that Pettigrew was alive when I saw his name on the Marauders' Map. You do recall the map don't you?"

I nodded, "But that still doesn't explain why you didn't say anything about it."

Rakepick rolled her eyes, "And how would that have benefited me?"  
I shook my head with disbelief, "You're unbelievable. Even as a portrait you still only ever think about yourself don't you? Bitch." I spat out those last words before I lowered my wand and stalked off.

* * *

"Did you hear the news?" asked Penny, "Apparently Sirius Black has escaped again …"  
"Again? Last I heard, he was sighted on Hogwarts school ground," frowned Liz.

"Really?" exclaimed Andre, "But Hogwarts is literally a ruddy fortress! The place is bloody impossible to just slip out of …"

"Clearly, it's not as impenetrable as we thought," mused Penny as she took another sip of her Butterbeer, "Look, it says here in the Daily Prophet."

"Blimey," Andre shook his head as she showed him the article, "I honestly don't know whether to be scared or impressed right now."

"Either way, if the rumours are true then Hogwarts would be the last place that Black would go," Liz pointed out, "Meaning …"

"… No more dementors? Smashing!" Andre beamed from ear-to-ear.

I raised an eyebrow, "Since when did you ever use the word 'smashing', Andre?"

"He's been spending a lot of time hanging out with Skye Parkin," supplied Penny.

"Has he now?" I grinned, "Any new developments that I should be aware of?"

"Oh, shove off, Cursebreaker," Andre replied, cheeks burning crimson.

"Aw," teased Tonks in a singsong voice, "Egwu's got a _girlfriend_!"

"I do _not_!" snapped the Quidditch Player, flushing beetroot as he averted his gaze, "It seems that your fashion sense isn't the only thing that needs improving, Tonks – your sense of humour is positively _atrocious_ as well."

"Aw, don't be like that," I replied, slinging my arm around his shoulder, "You know we're only teasing."

"Though, can you imagine what their babies would be like?" chimed Tonks, "Oof … Perfect reflexes _and_ fashion!"

Andre shook his head, "You guys are _awful_."  
"What are you moaning about this time, Andre?"  
"Charlie, over here!" I smiled, waving him over, "I thought you were going back to Romania tonight …"

"I am," he replied as I shuffled over to make room for him to sit beside me, "but Bill insisted that it'd be rude to just leave without dropping by the Leaky Cauldron at least once."

"Just admit it," snorted Andre, "The only reason you're here is 'cause Bill told you that Bethany was here."

Charlie blinked, "That's not … you still haven't answered my question, Egwu," he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, quickly changing the subject.

We were in such close quarters that our shoulders couldn't help but brush against one another.

"Oh _that_," laughed Tonks, "We were just discussing the fact that Mister Quidditch Star over here has a crush on Sk-mmmph!"

Andre clamped his hand over her mouth to stop her mid-sentence.

"Nope, nope, nope, we are _not_ going over this again," he replied, before quickly retracting his hand with disgust, "Urgh, did you just _lick_ me?"

Tonks shrugged, "Well, it's not like you gave me much of a choice …"

"You're disgusting you know that, right?"  
"And suddenly I understand why you so desperately want to get back to Romania," I sighed as the two began to bicker amongst themselves.

Charlie smirked, shuffling in closer so that he could wrap an arm around my shoulder. I felt his hot breath tickle my cheek as he chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, well I'm not going back _right _this second …"

* * *

"Before I leave, there's something that I wanted to ask you."

It may have been a trick of the light but I could've sworn that the tips of his ears flushed pink as he quietly pulled me aside.

"Sure, what's up?"

"You know how the Quidditch World Cup's started recently?"  
I nodded.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I managed to get these …" He took a pair of tickets from his jacket and showed them to me.

"They're to the next match," he explained quickly, "England vs. Transylvania … so …"  
"Charles Weasley, are you asking me out?" I teased.

Charlie stopped, "What? No! I mean, yeah … I guess? If … you want to that is …"

He was definitely blushing now, his freckled cheeks burning crimson as he ducked his head.

"Of course, I'd love to go with you."

Charlie blinked, his eyes snapping back to mine. "So … that's a yes?"  
I nodded.

"As in yes, you'll go on a date with me? Or yes you'd like to go to the game …"

"It means yes, I'd like to go on a date with you," I replied, smiling.

"Brilliant," he beamed, grinning from ear-to-ear as he ran a hand through his hair, "I'll see you later then?"

I nodded, heart still hammering as I watched him make his way out to leave before I called him back.

"Hey, Charlie?"  
"Yeah?" he turned back, eyebrows raised as I came over to him and smiled.

"Just one more thing before you go."

I reached up to touch his cheek, then, ever so gently, brushed my lips against his.

There was a slight pause before he kissed me back, his fingers grazing the skin of my hip beneath the hem of my shirt as he held me close.

We stayed like that for a few heated moments before he drew away with the same tender look in his eyes that reminded me of our time together in Cairo.

"Till next time?"  
"Till next time."

* * *

_Finally, it's about time that happened hey? I do have to wonder what Bill said to prompt Charlie to finally do it ... _

_Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it. It's been shorter fanfiction but perhaps that's because the chapters were longer? I'm not sure. _

_Don't forget to follow, favourite and review! And who knows? Maybe you might see another chapter or I dare say another story coming soon? I won't spoil it though. _

_Yours truly,_

_Sword Gold. _


	17. Epilogue

_Hi again!  
As promised, I bring to you the epilogue to 'The Cursebreaker and the Prisoner of Azkaban'. You guys requested that it be extra long, so, of course, I delivered with over five thousand words which are approximately the same as two chapters combined into one.  
_

_You have all been the best readers that a writer could ask for and I really hope that you enjoy this final segment. _

_With love,_

_Sword Gold_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Also, the specific actual locations of the Dragon Sanctuary and Charlie's cottage are actually unknown (other than the fact that they are both in Romania), So I decided to take some creative freedom with it. _

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

The dragon sanctuary stretched out for as far as the eye could see. The sanctuary itself was situated at the heart of a caldera, surrounded by towering cliff faces on all sides, successfully obscuring it from the outside world.

It wasn't long until I found Charlie, crouching by one of the fenced-off caves, trying to coax one of the dragons to eat.

"Oh come on, it's really not that bad … see?"  
The Romanian Longhorn grunted, flicking its tail so the bucket of raw chicken went flying across the enclosure. Apparently this particular dragon didn't like what was on the menu today and had barfed up the contents of its breakfast all over the dragon keeper who looked all but defeated until he spotted me coming towards him and flashed me one of his signature lopsided smiles.

"Hey you," Charlie's eyes lit up, grinning from ear-to-ear as he poked his head out over the railing. "I'd hug you, but as you can see I am currently covered in raw chicken guts."  
"So _that's_ what that is," I replied as he swung himself over the fence with ease.

"Yeah, Roma's been very picky recently." He explained, gesturing to the dragon that had now taken to sulking in the farthest corner by the mouth of the shallow cave. "Just let me grab a quick change of clothes from my locker first, then I'll show you around the rest of the Sanctuary."

"You might want to take a shower while you're at it," I teased, wrinkling my nose as I examined his vomit-encrusted jumper.

Charlie's cheeks flushed pink beneath his freckles as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Good idea. You can wait in my office if you like," he suggested, pointing towards a nearby door. "Just give me ten minutes max and I'll meet you there, alright?"

I didn't often get the chance to see this bashful side of Charlie and I nodded, giggling as he practically bolted down the corridor as if his pants were on fire.

I mightn't have gotten to see it much but it was something that I could definitely get used to, I thought to myself.

* * *

"Hullo there," smiled an elderly woman, who was ridiculously muscular despite her age, "What can I do for ya, Love?"

"Oh, nothing, I'm just waiting for a friend to get back," I replied quickly.

She leaned over her table, peering at me through her thick glasses before she grinned. "Ah, so _you're_ the one then? Should've known; you look just like I imagined."

"Uh … pardon?"

"What she means to ask is what's your name?" called another wizard, a bloke who looked a similar age to Lupin only bigger and buffer with a thick Romanian accent.

"Er … Bethany."

The man immediately beamed from ear-to-ear, "So you're the famous Cursebreaker that he won't shut up about." He chimed, pushing aside his papers as he reached over the table to shake my hand. "The name's Marius; Marius Sandu, and I've got to say that it's a pleasure to finally meet the girl that Weasley 'ere keeps yapping on about in person."

I blushed, "I'm sure he doesn't talk about me _that_ much …"

"Oh no, he does," replied the older woman, "Daniela Barbu, but you can call me Barb. You're probably the only thing that boy talks about more than dragons."

I could hear a motherly fondness in her voice as she shook her head.

"You should see the look on his face whenever he gets a letter from you," added Marius. "His eyes light up like a baby Antipodean Opaleye."  
"It's bloody adorable really," agreed Barb.

"I hope you guys aren't talking about me," Charlie's voice drawled as he came in with a towel slung over his shoulder.

"Oh, we're just happy that you've actually brought in a _girl_ for once," chimed the older witch, reaching over her desk to pinch his cheek.

"More like _relieved_," Marius scoffed.

"Oh shove off," Charlie scowled, blushing slightly as he ran a hand through his still-damp hair, "You guys are almost as bad as my mum …"

"Aw, don't tell us that we're embarrassing the little dragon-keeper in front of his girlfriend?"

Charlie ignored them; the pink rising up his cheeks till they tinged his ears as he turned to face me instead. "Ready to take that tour then?" he asked.

I nodded, "Whenever you are."

* * *

"So … _girlfriend_, huh?" I teased lightly as Charlie finished locking up the last of the separate enclosures.

Charlie blinked, "They just like tormenting me, that's all," he explained. "I swear to Merlin, they're almost as annoying as Bill …"

"Huh …" I hummed, musing over this as he averted his gaze, his face now as crimson as a setting sun as he ducked his head.

"Is that wrong though? What they were saying?" I began to fiddle with the 'C' shaped dragon pendant that he'd made and given to me so many years ago. Charlie paused, considering this for a moment before he finally seemed to understand.

"I wouldn't say that," he murmured quickly, his eyes darting from the old necklace around my neck before they eventually met mine.

Silence hung over us for a brief moment as we walked side-by-side. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was the sort of comfortable silence shared between the closest of friends.

"Do you really talk about me more than you talk about dragons?" I asked after a while.

Charlie didn't respond.

* * *

We left the dragon reserve by broom. I was doubtful that even his old Comet could hold both of my trunk and us so Charlie sent the luggage bags by Floo to his house. He pulled out his broom, glancing back at me. The winter chill hit my face from the moment that I stepped out of the Dragon Sanctuary's main building. I shivered, rubbing my hands together in an attempt to keep warm as I made my way up the slight incline, admiring how the frosted blades of grass shimmered under the sunlight along the way as we reached the edge of the caldera.  
"I figured you'd like this more than going by Floo, or Portkey, …" he reasoned.

He wasn't wrong, but I couldn't resist the urge to tease him a little bit.

"You just want an excuse to go flying."

Charlie grinned, "Guilty as charged," he admitted, sunlight glistening in his brown eyes as he stood at the very edge of the caldera.

"I never would've taken you for somebody who's scared of heights though, Miss Chaser extraordinaire," drawled the Weasley.

"I'm not scared, I'm just … apprehensive," I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest as I feigned being offended.  
"Right, _apprehensive_ …"

"Besides," I added quickly, "I've never jumped off a cliff before."

"What if I dared you to?" he asked.

"Huh?"

Charlie snickered, his grin only widening as he shook out his hair.

"What if I dare you to jump with me?" he repeated, his voice laced with humour as he spoke. "You wouldn't refuse a dare, would you Cursebreaker?"

"Well, I suppose I can't back down from a dare …"

"Exactly," he said, his hand enveloping my smaller one and squeezed it gently. "What do you say?"

I considered the proposal for a minute before I relented, "Fine," I replied, "But if I fall I will hex you."  
"I'll take that into consideration," the Weasley replied as he helped me mount his broom. Even now, just hearing the soft melody of his voice as he spoke was enough to send my heart into overdrive.

"Charlie Weasley, I already know how to fly a broom," I retorted as he stood behind me, his hands sending a warm tingling sensation up my spine as he tried to readjust almost everything about my posture while I floated on his Comet broom less than a few inches in the air.

"Not the way we're about to though," he replied cheerfully.

Before I could even ask him what that meant, I felt a push on the brush end of the broom, squeaking as Charlie's arm wrapped itself around my waist and we were suddenly shooting forward off the cliff.

I screamed, grabbing his arm as I screwed my eyes shut, fully expecting us to crash into the rocks below but the impact never came. I could feel him smiling as his lips brushed ever so slightly against the exposed part of my neck that my flapping scarf didn't cover.

"You can open your eyes now," Charlie murmured.

I blinked, feeling his chest vibrate with barely contained laughter as the wind roared in my ears.

He expertly directed the broom well above the caldera; the entire expanse of the snow-tipped Carpathian Mountain range spread out below us as I automatically leaned back into the comfort of his body pressed against mine.

Charlie chuckled as he snuggled into my back, nestling his chin against my shoulder as he began to scan the sky.

"See? Nothing to be afraid of," his breath tickled my ear as he spoke and I couldn't help but blush slightly. Of course, I was no stranger to flying: I had been a Chaser in my last years at Hogwarts and even had a Comet two-sixty for myself, but I don't think that I had ever flown so high before.

I shivered slightly because of the cold and Charlie's grip tightened accordingly, enveloping me in his warmth as we soared higher and higher into the atmosphere until we were up above the clouds.

"Wow," I gasped, the morning sun streaking through the cloud cover in small hallows as he guided us over what looked like an almost surreal world of white wisps.

"Amazing isn't it," Charlie grinned, "Remember where it is?"

"Remember where what is?"

"The cottage, silly," he replied, smiling softly before he pointed to a forest just beyond the horizon that looked more like a blanket of green fur from this distance. "Just beyond those woods." He sighed, "Don't tell me you've forgotten _already_?"

"'Course I haven't," I managed to retort, "It just looks so different from up here."

Charlie shrugged, choosing not to argue as he guided the broom a little lower over the fir trees. Sure enough, just beyond the clearing was Charlie's house on a hill.

I recognised it almost immediately. Even from a distance, I could see that it was exactly how I remembered it: a homey looking building set against a small cliff overlooking the rest of the forest and (momentarily) iced-over lake.

I felt my heart flutter slightly at the sight of it and he grinned, squeezing me in a tight embrace as we hovered to a standstill at the base of the hill.

"Welcome home."

* * *

"Is that a _dragon_ sweater? What happened to you wearing your honorary Quidditch jersey?" I asked, cocking my head to the side as Charlie came down the stairs into the living room looking very proud.

"This _is_ my honorary Quidditch jersey," he replied in a-matter-of-factly tone, "And England's team emblem happens to have three dragons on it …" he added.

I rolled my eyes, smiling despite myself as I shook my head.

Of course, that was the only reason why he'd insisted on rooting for England.

"You sure you'll be warm enough though?" I asked, "According to the WWN it's going to be pretty cold …"

"Ah, but you forget who you're talking to," said Charlie, "I don't feel the cold remember?"

"You might not feel the cold but that doesn't mean that you can't _catch_ a cold," I reasoned.

"Don't worry, I'll bring a jacket," he promised, puckering his lips, "I'm more concerned about you though – your hands are freezing."

He rubbed them in his own; his callouses brushing against my knuckles as he squeezed them gently.

I grinned, my heart fluttering at the skin-to-skin contact. "I should be alright as long as my human furnace stays close."

Charlie raised an eyebrow, "Your personal furnace, huh?" he replied, "And here I was under the impression that you fancied me for my good looks."

I giggled, elbowing him gently as he fake-pouted.

"Ready to get going?"

"Lead the way, Cursebreaker."

* * *

"According to Andre apparently the Transylvanian team consists of werewolves and demon vampires," Charlie murmured as we found our seats near the top of the stadium, "I always thought he was joking until I saw them up close."

I raised an eyebrow, "Demon vampires? Really Charlie?"  
"I'm serious!" he insisted, "Have you seen their pictures in the Daily Prophet? You've got to admit that those Beaters are definitely hairy enough to be mistaken for werewolves …"

"Charlie Weasley, that's _rude_." I chastised, pretending to look insulted as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"See for yourself. They'll be coming out any second now …"

I was about to respond when a magically amplified voice rang over the stadium: "Welcome witches and wizards to the first qualifiers for this year's four hundred and twenty-second, Quidditch, World, _Cup_!"

"Hey, wait a second," Charlie paused, "Is that … Murphy in the commentator's box?"  
"Murphy? As in Murphy McNully?" I craned my head over the crowd in the direction which Charlie was pointing to see that, sure enough, today's commentator was none another than our old Gryffindor classmate, Murphy McNully.

Murphy grinned, winking as he waved at us before turning back to the loudspeaker, his voice resonating throughout the entire stadium as he went back to announcing.

"I'm Murphy McNully, Sports commentating extraordinaire and I'll be telling you all the ins and the outs of today's match on this glorious winter night. Now without further ado, let's bring out the teams!"

Cheers erupted from either side of the stands as he spoke.

"Flying in on their silver nimbuses all the way from the lovely United Kingdom, everybody put down your cuppas and give a warm welcome to the English Quidditch Team!"

The crowd roared in ovation, waving red and white banners as each Quidditch player zoomed out.

"Coming out in order with have Seeker, Blythe Parkin, cousin of the famous Skye Parkin! Then here come the three Chasers: Captain Avery Hawksworth, Edric Vosper and Keaton Flitney, shortly followed by Beaters Dawn Witney and Indira Choudry and last but not least their Keeper Denison Frisby!"

You could tell immediately that Blythe was definitely one of the legendary Parkins by the way she held herself; flying in front of her teammates and practically radiating confidence. It reminded me of her cousin Skye and I couldn't help but smile: Skye had been the one to coach me to become a Chaser in the first place.

"Aaaand coming in from the right, they're green, they're mean, ladies and gentlemen give it up for the Transylvanian Quidditch Team!"

Sure enough, true to Charlie's word I could see that the Transylvanian Quidditch players _did_ look a little bit wolfish in stature ("That doesn't mean that they're actually werewolves though," I insisted.)

"I'd tell you what their names are but if I'm to be absolutely honest there's almost a ninety-eight per cent chance that I wouldn't be able to pronounce them."

I giggled, as Charlie shook his head. Classic Murphy …

"Today's referee will be none other than eccentric Quidditch star coach Orion Amari, who I happened to go to school with if anybody's interested."

Our eyes both widened when we heard the name of the Gryffindor's old Quidditch Captain being announced and scanned the field as he came out. Orion hadn't changed much from how he'd always been: laid back with his surfer styled mop of brown hair and whisker-like beard. The only real difference was instead of wearing his usual khakis and loose brown robes he wore the black-and-white checker uniform of a referee and a black baseball cap.

"Orion says a few words, no doubt about teamwork, Flobberworms and having a clean game before he gives the signal. Aaaaaand they're _off_!"

"It's the Transylvanians who have possession of the Quaffle as they tear up the pitch with their Transylvanian barb brooms and beater Dawn Witney tries to lodge a Bludger in their direction but the Transylvanian Chaser glides right past it as if it were never there at all and he shoots and he scores, making the first ten points of tonight!"

"If I'm not mistaken, England's Chasers are about to perform their famous Rowntree Counter, and look at them go! Vosper, Hawksworth and Flitney all dive at the same time as the colours of their national flag come flying out of their broom, shooting through the sky like the Red Arrows as they try and knock two opposing players off their brooms but it seems that the Transylvanian team won't have a bar of it. And ooh, Vosper's overhead kick has come into contact with the head of fellow Chaser rather than the Quaffle – bad luck mate, and Amari calls for a timeout as the Chaser is flown down with what is no doubt a painful concussion that is more than likely to leave a bruise or two."

We watched as medics rushed onto the scene with potions in hand.

"And after that slight hiccup, the English team seem to be back on their feet but they'll need more than fast nimbuses if they want to catch up to Transylvania who are still in the lead by sixty points now."

"Hawksworth manages a sneaky intercept to take possession of the Quaffle as he darts down the pitch looking hell-bent on scoring and he does! Finally giving the team their first much needed ten points for the night."  
"Flitney tries again but is parried off by Transylvania's Keeper who performs an impressive Sloth-Hook-Grip and tosses the Quaffle back to its Chaser who dodges Choudry's Bludger by a hair and scores yet another goal for Transylvania!"

"It's not a good night for the English as they lose yet another penalty after a nasty case of cobbing between Chasers, giving the Transylvanian Chaser yet another free penalty, bringing their score up to two hundred. It seems that England's only chance of winning now is up to their Seeker Blythe Parkin who is still looking for the elusive Golden Snitch. And ladies and gentlemen I think she's found it, and yes she's spotted the snitch. Remember this might be England's one and only chance to save them from annihilation but _ooh! _Transylvania's Beater hits a Bludger that very nearly wipes Parkin clean out of the sky."

Charlie and I winced as Skye's cousin took a Bludger to the back, only managing to stay on her broom out of pure skill, but the damage had already been done and the Snitch was nowhere to be seen.

"The referee signals for a time-out but the Seeker insist that she's a-okay. I suppose if Skye Parkin has trained her than she'd be used to being knocked over by Bludgers. With the Snitch out of sight, Transylvania scores yet another five goals bringing the score now two hundred and fifty to ten and boy, England's team isn't doing too well tonight. It seems that only a miracle will save them now. And, speaking of a miracle it looks like Frisby has managed to stop the Transylvania's from scoring again with an impressive catch and it doesn't look like the Chaser's too happy about that. But what's this? It looks like the Transylvanian Seeker has spotted the Snitch now and is making a dive which Parkin soon follows but oh it's a Wronski Feint and it looks like Parkin fell right for it."

We groaned along with the rest of England's fans while the Transylvanians cheered wildly.

"Time's running out for the English, who have still not managed to score another goal past that massive giant of a Keeper. And oh! Transylvania's Seeker is diving again and yes it's the real deal! He's actually spotted the Snitch and he catches it, giving his team an amazing whopping one hundred and ten points and that's it, the game's over and Transylvania has won the first qualifiers towards the Quidditch World Cup, leaving England behind in the dust!"

* * *

"Three hundred and ninety to ten," grumbled Charlie gloomily, "If that's not depressing, then I don't know what is …"  
"Ireland looks like it'll make it through to the semi-finals at least, so that's something to look forward to," I reasoned, wrapping my arm around his as we made our way through the stands with the other equally disappointed Quidditch fans.

"True, Ireland does probably have the strongest team so far," he agreed, "But three hundred and ninety to ten," he shook his head, "Our team was slaughtered, Bethany … _Slaughtered_!"

"I know," I sighed, squeezing his hand in mine in an attempt to comfort the miserable Weasley. "But, speaking of finals, how about we douse our misery with one final Butterbeer at the local pub before we leave?"  
Charlie considered this before he nodded, "Well, it is hard to say no to another Butterbeer."

* * *

The local pub was full of both cheering and weeping. On one side, the Transylvanian National Quidditch team was celebrating their latest victory, a group of fans even pouring an entire barrel of Butterbeer over their team captain. On the other were the English fans, drowning their sorrows with a good pint of Firewhiskey.  
"Aw, cheer up lad," beamed the bartender in Romanian as he poured us each a tankard, "We won didn't we? Here, on the house for you and yeh pretty lady-friend."

We thanked the barman before we found an empty booth in the furthest corner of the small pub and sat down.

"That was nice of him," I said as I sipped the froth from my drink. The smooth butterscotch trickled down my throat, feeling my body with its warmth. It was the perfect something to have after spending the day standing out in the freezing cold of the Pitch outside.

"Yeah, hard to believe that he didn't figure out that we were rooting for the other team," said the Weasley, "Or maybe he did and just felt sorry for us," he added as an afterthought.

"Well, either way, it's hard to say no to free Butterbeer," I shrugged.

"I guess," said Charlie, "Though I'll never hear the end of this back at the Sanctuary," he groaned, running a hand through his windswept hair.  
"England might be out of the running but there's still the semi-finals, and, before you know it we'll be at the World Cup together."  
Charlie almost spluttered on his Butterbeer when I said that.

"You mean you'll go to the World Cup with me?" he blinked, "Really?"

"Of course," I said, taking his hand in mine from across the table and squeezing it gently, "As if I need an excuse to spend more time with my favourite Weasley, doing what he loves."

It may have been a trick of the light filtering through the window, but I could have sworn that I saw the tips of his ears turn red.

"I knew I saw you two in the stands!" chimed Murphy who came whizzing in on his wheelchair. "You should've told me that you were coming otherwise I could've gotten you both top seats in the box with me!"  
"Not that it would've made much of a difference," muttered Charlie.

"We were rooting for England," I explained.

"Well, there was no way that they could've won after that's Wronski Feint," reasoned Murphy, "In fact, the chances of them pulling through were less than ten-point-nine …"  
"Yes McNully, we saw the scores," I replied.

"Right, was I interrupting something? I feel like I was interrupting a moment between you two …" he said and Charlie spluttered on his Butterbeer, "I was, wasn't I? Well, don't mind me, I'll just be collecting my winnings. Skye owes me sixty-three galleons _and_ a Butterbeer now. You've always got to admire good strategy, hey Weasley?" he grinned, patting Charlie's shoulder and giving me a wink before he wheeled off in the direction of the bar.

Charlie rubbed the back of his neck, "It's getting a bit loud in here," he murmured.

"It is, isn't it?" I agreed, cleaning the spilt Butterbeer with a _Scourgify _spell before I finished my tankard.

"So … back to mine then?" he suggested.  
"Charles Weasley, are you _sure_ that you're not a Legilimens? Because I swear to Merlin that you just read my mind."

Charlie waggled his eyebrows, "Wouldn't you like to know."

* * *

"Explain to me again why we're out here in the cold instead of inside your house where it's warm?" I asked.

"You'll see." Charlie replied cheerfully, "Okay, your left hand should be in front of your right unless you're left-handed. You're not left-handed, are you? Blimey, I should know this by now, shouldn't I?"

"Charlie, I've mounted a hexed broom. You know that I'm not exactly a _newbie_ when it comes to flying," I responded as he continued to fuss over my posture.

"But I've got something slightly different planned," he said, his hands much warmer than mine as he readjusted my grip. With each touch came an unexplainable charge that sent tingles up my spine.

When Charlie had mentioned that he had a surprise waiting for me back at the cottage, I'd been expecting a nice dinner or perhaps a midnight stroll through the forest …

What I had _not_ expected was a lesson in the basics of how to hold a broom.

It had been a few months now since that fateful day at the Leaky Cauldron where the two of us had finally comprehended our feelings for each other and, along with this new realisation came the persistent blushing: whether it be our hands brushing against one another when he helped me with my trunk, or the way he'd flash me one of his lopsided grins whenever he saw me; not to mention the fact that I would virtually melt inside every time he shot a wink my way. Mind you, it also came with the benefit of seeing him blush more often …

Before I could process what was going on he opened a small box revealing a Golden Snitch. I watched as the golden orb flitted around us before it shot off in a high arc over the cottage, and, just when the speck had almost disappeared from sight I felt another push on the brush end of the broom, gasping as Charlie's arm wrapped around my waist once more and we were suddenly shooting forward towards the stone wall. I winced, gripping his arm as I screwed my eyes shut but the impact never came.

Charlie directed the broom well above the cottage, the expanse of the frozen lake and countryside spread out below us as I automatically leaned into the warmth of his body pressed against mine. Everything looked so different at night. The lake glittered like sapphire, reflecting the starry night above and the wind whistled gently through the white-tipped fir trees.

"Do you see it?" he asked, his breath tickling my ear as he spoke.

"See what?" I asked.

"The snitch, silly."

"So … am I just looking for something gold then?" I managed to ask.

Charlie chuckled as he snuggled into my back, nestling his chin against my shoulder as he began to scan the night sky.

"Not exactly. You're mostly looking for movement. Sometimes I find it helps if I close my eyes for a second to refocus. Obviously it's harder to find in the dark but its movements should shimmer as it moves ever so slightly…"

"Found it!"

Charlie had us darting. Never had I ever flown so fast in my life. I clung to him for support as he expertly guided us around trees, dropping under the slopes and crannies of the cliff face as the Snitch came into view.

I reached out, steadied by Charlie's grip and caught it.

I felt its wings flitter flutter against my palm as Charlie cheered, squeezing me in a tight embrace as we hovered to a standstill at the foot of the hill.

"You did it, Bethany!" he grinned, "That's why I love you so much – you trusted me and followed your instincts and that was just bloody_ brilliant_!"

He gave me a second squeeze at his last sentence, but the air had already left my lungs, the broom dropping unceremoniously between us while his hold kept me steady.

"You … you love me?"

Charlie stiffened, his arms immediately loosening as the tension grew between us.

"You said you love me," I repeated, my brain still trying to process the information as I stepped backwards.

Charlie ran an awkward hand through his hair, "I did, didn't I?" he murmured, "Not exactly how I planned on saying it, but true nonetheless …"

"R-really?"

"Really," he nodded as he reached for my hands, "I love you. I love you _so_ much," he emphasised with a gentle squeeze, "I should have said it ages ago and …"

I tugged him forward, filling the space between us as I pressed my lips against his.

He gasped; his arms weaving their way around my waist as he kissed me back before he eventually pulled away, grinning like an idiot.

"I love you too," I replied, breathless and red-faced but all so happy.

Charlie chuckled, our foreheads pressed together as I traced my fingers over his freckles and smiled.

"So, I'm guessing by the looks of things that I can assume that this date was a success?" he asked eventually.

I nodded.

"Now can we _please_ get out of this cold?" I whined, burying my face into the shoulder of his jacket. "You might be a human furnace but I'm _definitely_ not …"

* * *

_So, what did you think? I found it a bit difficult to get the feeling of the game through Murphy's commentary (going over the Quidditch games in Hogwarts Mystery, watching the movies and reading through the Goblet of Fire were my main inspirations) but I did try my absolute best. _

_Speaking of the Goblet of Fire, something along those lines might be coming up in another story (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge). Anyway, thank you again for sticking with through my story and I hope that you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it to share with you amazing fans. - S.G. _


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